This year, 141 wines from 18 producers were judged, with 105 medals awarded and 74% of all entries receiving a medal. Twenty-one wines achieved Gold or better. These are results our industry should be proud of.

What makes Queensland wine so exciting is that we are not constrained by tradition. We have the freedom to experiment, lean into emerging varietals, to make wines differently and to follow where our climate, our growers and our curiosity take us. Queensland wine continues to challenge, surprise and delight.

I would like to personally thank our Chair of Judges, Andrew Santarossa, as well as Chief Steward for the 2026 Awards, Andrew Scott, for their support and dedication to this year's Awards. I would also like to thank all the other people that have worked tirelessly behind the scenes including Peter McGlashan, Tim Morgan, Mario Anders, as well as our panel of judges: Cameron Jones, Adam Chapman, Craig Robinson and Gillian Heathcote.

It takes many people giving their time and energy to make an event like this happen, and on behalf of QWIA as well as the broader Queensland wine industry, thank you for being part of it.

The opportunity ahead is enormous. These Awards celebrate the quality already being achieved across Queensland, but more importantly, they show what is possible when an industry backs itself, pushes boundaries and believes in where it is going.

Queensland wine is finding its voice. And it is getting louder. Congratulations to all.

In 1863 there was no wine industry in Queensland to speak of. The country west of the Great Dividing Range was sheep country, everybody knew it, and everybody knew that serious wine in the colonies came from the south. It's too hot out there. Too dry, too rough, and generally too far from anywhere. The matter was considered settled.

Bassett, a headstrong 23-year-old Cornishman managing a sheep station out near Roma, didn't listen. He saw potential in the sandy loam soils along Bungil Creek, took up ground of his own along it, and hauled the first cuttings overland from Toowoomba - a gruelling two-month journey over rough bullock tracks. They told him that the vines wouldn't even survive the journey. But they did, and that bundle of sticks off the back of a bullock-dray would become the scion of an industry.

The original 270-acre Romavilla Vineyard was established three years later, an enterprise that would eventually comprise 400 acres under vine - more than half the area under vine of the modern-day Granite Belt, in his single, family-owned estate. And it isn't just the scale of the operation that is impressive. In 1901 his wines took nine of the ten first prizes at the Queensland Exhibition, and he would eventually amass over 650 awards and medals for his wines in an industry that had spent forty years telling him it couldn't be done.

The Samuel Bassett Award is the Queensland wine industry's highest mark of tribute for long-term contribution and leadership. It celebrates those who believe in what we do, who aren't afraid to hold our ground in the face of the doubters, and who leave the industry better placed than they found it.

It carries his name because the argument he took on over 160 years ago is the same one that every Queensland wine producer is still all too familiar with. Every one of us continues the work he started, and answers it with the same quiet confidence that he did, one glass at a time.

Rather than focusing on a single label, The Church has created a collective shopfront for the Granite Belt, giving visitors the opportunity to discover wines from producers across the region, including smaller makers and brands that may not have their own cellar door. Through rotating winery showcases, self-guided tastings and a strong focus on alternative varieties and regional storytelling, it is creating another pathway for Queensland wine to reach consumers.

Importantly, The Church isn't simply selling wine; it is helping sell the region. It encourages discovery, collaboration and visitation while giving more Queensland producers a voice, a presence and a route to market. It is a genuine supporter of the broader industry and a worthy recipient of the Supporter of Queensland Wine Award.