The 2021 National Cool Climate Wine Show at Bathurst has finally begun

The combination of bushfires, floods and COVID has made it tough for wineries over the past two years, but chairman judge Russell Cody said the quality of wine has been terrific.

"Probably the negative would be in 2020, because of the bushfires, there was a lot of smoke taint," Mr Cody said.

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"The numbers of the wine show are down because of that, but the quality of the wines is very good."

This year is Mr Cody's first as chairman judge, where he has the final say on the scores given by the other judges.

The panels have 488 bottles of wine to get through from around 130 wineries across the country before Thursday afternoon, where the gold-classed products will be named.

Though the show usually attracts around 800 exhibits, Mr Cody said it's still great to be back and running, and benchmarking the different wines.

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"It's just fantastic and I think because only a few shows went ahead last year and this year a lot of the shows have been put off ... I think everybody's just happy to judge and get out there and taste other wines," he said.

As well as it being Mr Cody's first year as chairman judge, a number of the other judges are also new to the scene.

Typically, the panels would have judges from different states, but COVID restrictions required a fully NSW-based team.

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Mr Cody said it's been a great opportunity for those judges to come through the ranks.

"They're all young and enthusiastic people; they're the future of the wine industry in NSW," he said.

Mr Cody thanked the Cool Climate Wine Show committee for being so accommodating with the numerous changes to the event and their dedication to making it happen.

He also thanked Majellan Bowling Club for hosting the show at its venue.

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