The 2026 Liquid Luxury Wine Show is open — enter your home barrel fortified

We know, we know. We said Monday 27 July.

But if there's one thing we've learned from five years of running the Liquid Luxury Amateur Fortified Wine Show, it's that our barrel owners are not exactly known for their patience. Which is somewhat ironic given what you do for a hobby.

So we've decided to just go ahead and open entries today. If you've got a home barrel quietly maturing in a shed somewhere, this is your moment.

What is the Liquid Luxury Wine Show?

Run by our home barrel program Liquid Luxury, the Amateur Fortified Wine Show gives home barrel owners across Australia the chance to have their blend tasted and judged by a panel of industry experts, using the same 100-point scoring system used across the Australian wine show circuit.

This is the fifth year of the show. What started as a small community tasting has grown into one of the most anticipated events on the Rutherglen calendar, with well over 100 entries arriving each year from barrel owners all over the country. The standard keeps rising every single year, and this year's Best in Show prize might be the best yet.

The prize

2026 Best in Show Trophy: 1 x 10 litre barrel made from 50-year-old oak.

Every gold medal and trophy winner also receives a medallion to proudly display on their barrel.

The categories

Four categories, each with three classes based on the character of the wine rather than its age:

Muscat. Topaque. Ruby and Tawny. Rebel Blend, for other varieties and mixed blends.

Within each category, wines are judged as Young Fresh and Fruity, Complex Rich and Luscious, or Dark Decadent and Aged. There are no rules about where your base wine came from either — it doesn't need to be Stanton & Killeen or even Rutherglen. What matters is what you've built in your barrel at home.

Key dates

Entries open: now
Entries close: Wednesday 20 August 2026
Winners announced: Tuesday 15 September 2026

Entry fees

1 to 4 entries — $25
5 to 6 entries — $35
6 or more entries — $40

What you need to send

Each entry requires 250ml of your wine in a clean, clearly labelled bottle, along with your entry confirmation number from the online form. If you'd like a full technical analysis alongside your judging feedback, include an additional 100ml sample marked "sample for analysis."

Ready to enter?

Liquid Luxury has put together a complete library of guides to help you enter with confidence, whether this is your first time or your fifth. Full entry details, category and class explanations, a pre-entry preparation checklist, and an inside look at exactly what the judges are looking for are all available on the Liquid Luxury site.

Head to www.liquidlux.com.au to read the full guides and enter your barrel.

We can't wait to taste what you've been building.