Almost every year for the past quarter of a century, a group of white-coated individuals from far and wide have converged on Canberra for a special challenge.
It is - or was - the Canberra International Riesling Challenge, a renowned competition that has just called last drinks, having put riesling, not to mention Canberra region wine, firmly on the map.
But with marketing costs going up and entry numbers going down, the founders have made the "difficult decision" to wind the challenge up.
Chairman James Service said the challenge had achieved what it had intended - to put riesling on the map.
"It's the white wine of choice in our house," he said.
And more people than ever actually know the difference between a riesling and, say, a semillon, which wasn't always the case in Australia.
The challenge was set up initially to improve the quality of riesling that was available to the public, as well as consumers' understanding and appreciation of the grape, and, by extension, of the local wine industry itself.
Founded in 2000 by renowned Canberra winemaker Ken Helm, the challenge has since held 24 events at the Albert Hall, with entry numbers peaking in 2018 at 567, and nine separate countries in 2019.
It began as the first single-variety wine show in Australia, and eventually became the largest in the southern hemisphere.
But Mr Service said entry numbers have been steadily reducing since the COVID-19 pandemic, a sign that winemakers were choosing to spend elsewhere when it came to spruiking their product.
"Most wineries are fairly small businesses - they're looking for the best way they can get a return for their marketing effort, and so our view is that they make decisions about whether they pay entry fees and transport their wines to a wine show, or they spend money on marketing," he said.
"Our single varietal wine show had a great history, but at the end of the day, unless we can get enough entries, then it's just not economically viable to run it, and that's where we find ourselves."
The event had been popular each year with local wine enthusiasts and international winemakers, politicians and diplomats - an achievement for such a small region.
But wineries in the Canberra region have always punched above their weight - the Riesling Challenge had been a large part of its success.
"I think we're blessed in Canberra, because the depth of our restaurant and hospitality sector means there are little pockets of some really interesting and wonderful wines, of which riesling has grown enormously in the last 25 years," he said.
