Wine show & tell: Behind the scenes at AAVWS

Stewards pour a judging bracket at AAVWS. Photo credit: AAVWS / Roberto Pettinau

"More than just a wine show”, goes the tagline of the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. The show—AAVWS to its friends (and it has many)—is happy to have the claim interrogated.

After all, it’s had a quiet confidence all along that its supposedly niche subject matter deserved an audience way beyond the fringe.

The story of the show's genesis and evolution is a fascinating one, superbly captured by Max Allen in his 2023-published book, Alternative Reality. It chronicles the show from the seed planted in friendship between co-founders Bruce Chalmers, Stefano de Pieri and the late Dr Rod Bonfiglioli through to the present day.

Over that time, a whole host of bright, open-minded, charismatic characters have breathed life and colour into it. In November 2023, it was my pleasure to be invited to judge at the 21st edition of the show.

Its unique atmosphere, content and camaraderie prompted me to put together a behind-the-scenes video, which I hope ties together the set-up and running of this special week and its broader context for the present and future of Australian wine.

I owe an enormous thank-you to the Chalmers family, the AAVWS family and photographer Roberto Pettinau for their help in illustrating this story. Please click the link in my bio to watch the full 10-minute movie.