The National Cool Climate Wine Show was awarded Community Event of the Year by Bathurst Regional Council in recognition for the dedication and commitment that went into staging the event.

Event chair Mark Renzaglia said he was so shocked when he accepted the award on Monday that he forgot to thank the countless people involved in putting the huge event together.

“I didn’t say anything. I just wasn’t prepared to win ... it was a very nice surprise,” he said.

Mr Renzaglia is among a throng of committee members, and around 50 volunteers, who work tirelessly to bring together the event, which is now in its 17th year.

“This show wouldn’t have been possible without help from all the great volunteers,” he said.

Last year’s event had 850 cool climate wine entries from across the Central West and Australia, much bigger than any other national cool climate show, according to Mr Renzaglia.

“We started with about 100 entries, now we get around 850 to 1000 entries each year and that’s just cool climate wines,” he said.

“It’s far more entries than the other cool climate wine shows get. I think it’s down to the reputation we have among wineries and we have good judges.”

While the show is being recognised by vignerons across the country, Mr Renzaglia said it is recognition by local people and council that meant so much with this award.

In the future, Mr Renzaglia said the committee will work to promote the show outside Bathurst to attract more people into visiting the public wine tasting event.

“We’re still a bit of a secret in Bathurst. We have this great wine show and this great public tasting, but yet we still only get a few hundred people to the public wine tasting,” he said.

Stay up-to-date with this year’s National Cool Climate Wine Show at https://www.facebook.com/BathurstWines.