It is the second time Moppity Vineyards has taken out the award – last year with their 2006 Reserve Shiraz - and adds to a number of awards won for the wine, including the trophy for “Best Shiraz of Show” and top gold medal at the Queensland Wine Show.

This year the show featured over 8000 wines from 80 countries and 1000 entries from Australia alone.

With 250 judges focused on both sensory and laboratory analysis, it incorporates the most rigorous judging process of any wine competition, underpinning its claim as the world’s best.

The 2007 Reserve Shiraz hasn’t been released yet but interest is already surging both in Australia and overseas in anticipation of the planned January release.

Following the win for the 2006 Reserve Shiraz at last year’s London Show (their first release), Moppity Vineyards has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence, recently being hailed as “a rising star of top-end Australian wine” in The Big Red Wine Book 2009/10.

The result caps of a tremendous year for Moppity Vineyards, in which they’ve won more than 50 medals, across all wines in their portfolio.

Earlier in the year, the 2008 Chardonnay won top gold medal at the Royal Sydney Wine Show – one of the premier wine shows in Australia.

The 2009 Riesling won top gold at the Rutherglen National Show, beating entries from the “traditional” Riesling producing regions in South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.

The Riesling has also been short-listed for “Wine of the Year” by Winestate Magazine (to be announced in December).

Meanwhile the reds have also done extremely well.

The 2008 Shiraz has won 11 medals to date and was selected in the esteemed NSW top 40 earlier this month and the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon won “Best in Class” at the Cowra Wine Show.

Moppity Vineyards’ owners, Jason and Alecia Brown, were thrilled with the result.

“We always believed that this vineyard was capable of producing world class wines,” Mr Brown said.

“It’s extremely satisfying to have our faith vindicated by show judges and the press both here and overseas.

“To do it two years in a row with successive vintages is the icing on the cake and it further demonstrates that the Hilltops region is a jewel in the crown of Australian viticulture,” he said.