A History of the Vin de Champagne Awards in Australia

December 10, 2024|Sara Underdown.

Two Vin de Champagne Awards ice buckets on black bases at an award ceremony.

In Australia, the Vin de Champagne Awards were a part of France’s Comité Champagne's worldwide promotional activities. Sponsored originally by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), the award was first held in 1974 and promoted through the Champagne Information Centre (CIC) in Sydney. The director of the CIC for the first years of the award was Helen Birch who was then followed by Clara Chapman. Holly Kerr (Forsyth) was appointed director in 1979 and, for the next 22 years, was responsible for organising, promoting and publicising the award. During the period of Holly Kerr's directorship, it became a highly prestigious and fiercely contested award with entries being received from all over Australia.This was especially so after the award was opened to include members of the general public interested in champagne. The prize for the winners of each of the sections was a study tour to Champagne to enjoy the hospitality of the Houses and growers and to learn about the land, its people and - of course - the great wines of Champagne.

After Holly Kerr resigned as Director of the CIC in 2001, the directorship was taken over by Elisabeth Drysdale until 2016 during which time the CIC was re-branded to the Champagne Bureau and the CIVC later became the Comité Champagne. John Noble then took over in November 2017. During Elisabeth Drysdale’s time as director, arrangements were made for past winners to return to Champagne as guests of the CIVC/Comité Champagne. These reunions occurred in 2003 and 2014 (representing the 30th and 40th anniversaries of the award) with the winners returning to re-familiarise themselves with the region and once again to enjoy the hospitality of the Champenois.

The Vin de Champagne Awards were held annually from 1974 until 2004, however, after 2006 it was decided that it would be held only every second year. The origins of the Award and how it was founded are still not really clear. What is known, however, is that it grew out of an association between the CIVC and the Catering Institute of Australia and the probable catalyst was the Welsh/Australian wine judge and wine merchant, Len Evans. Evans had been a pioneer advocate of wine and food education since his arrival in Australia in 1955. His association with Charles Heidsieck and Champagne historian, François Bonal, may have inspired the original award and how it was set up with the cooperation of the CIVC.

When the award was introduced in 1974, Len Evans was on the board of the Catering Institute of Australia and it was through the Catering Institute magazine 'The Australian Catering Journal' that the first Vin de Champagne Award competition in association with the CIC was announced. Entry forms were available through the state offices of the Catering Institute of Australia.

The Champagne Information Centre had been established in 1971 by the CIVC as an outlet for information about the champagne industry and as a liaison point for champagne distributors in Australia. Whether or not she was the original director of the CIC, Helen Birch was certainly involved in the running of the Award up until 1975 or 1976 when Clara Chapman took over the role. The first reference to the CIC being set-up in Australia is reported in the Sydney French language newspaper Le Courrier Australien.

The first winner of the Vin de Champagne Award in 1974 was Sydney waiter, Jack (Giacomo) Monti, a ‘Fellow’ of the Catering Institute of Australia, whose prize was a four week study tour to Champagne to visit various Champagne Houses and enjoy the food and wines of the region.

The Champagne Houses obviously endorsed and approved of the award as it was agreed that it would become an annual event and arrangements were made for it to be held in 1975. A full report of the 1975 award presentation was published in the Le Courrier Australien in May that year when Melbourne chef, Anders Ousback, was the winner.

The following year, in 1976, the award was won by Sydney wine merchant and importer, Douglas Lamb. Some of the records of Douglas Lamb's itinerary have been found and are shown below.

The position of director of the CIC was taken over by Holly Kerr in 1979. For its first six years, the award had been open only for persons employed in the catering or hospitality industries. However, in 1980, under Holly's direction, the award was opened to include an amateur section (for non-professionals or people who simply loved champagne) and, in 1996, she arranged for a student section to be included. This section of the award allowed young people under 25 years of age employed or studying in the hospitality industry the opportunity to travel to Champagne and study all aspects of the industry . The student award was discontinued from 2010.

From the time the non-professional section of the Award was opened up to the general public in 1980, interest in this category was extremely high and encouraged entries from a very wide range of occupations — journalists, florists, accountants, pharmacists, school teachers, librarians, academics etc. The level of knowledge and expertise of many of the entries from the non-professionals amazed the judges and, in many cases, the non-professional entries outshone many of those of the professionals.

The expansion of the Award to include categories for individuals outside of the hospitality industry, and the creation of a category for students of wine and hospitality was a marketing masterstroke by Holly Kerr Forsyth and the CIVC. The award continued to climb in popularity, profile and competiveness creating a small army of highly motivated and knowledgeable champagne aficionados prepared to spend a lifetime as ambassadors promoting the region and wines of Champagne.

However, the Awards were cancelled after the 2018 season for reasons unknown. If you speak to any of the award-winners (or even those who make the finals) it's clear that the experience continues to inspire a life-long journey with champagne. Though it may be anecdotal, one could argue that the Awards also spurred on sales of champagne, with growth climbing relatively consistently year-on-year, going from just over half a million bottles in 1970 to over 10 million bottles today in Australia.

There is no doubt that the operations of the CIC/Champagne Bureau over the last half a century have contributed enormously to this interest in champagne in Australia. This is in spite of the dramatic increase in the quality of locally produced sparkling wines and the entry into the Australian market of sparkling wines from local producers as well as those in Spain, Italy and Germany.

Winners of the Vin de Champagne Award from inception to the present day are listed below
(Professional, Non-professional and Student)

1974 // Jack Monti

1975 // Anders Ousback

1976 // Douglas Lamb

1977 // Remio Galea

1978 // George Truby

1979 // Ed Jouault

1980 // Colin Voerman // Noel Leyshon

1981 // Christopher Shanahan // Paul Hudson

1982 // Nick Bulleid // Martin Gillam

1983 // Susan Allen // Stephen Leslie

1984 // Huon Hooke // Bernadette O’Shea