That might seem rhetorical, but there are many events held in the state each year that fail to live up to the claims made by their organisers.

Gladly, the annual Tasmanian Wine Show hasn't been among them.

And if all goes according to plan, January's 2021 judging and trophy presentation dinner should be rip-roaring successes.

The show will be held in Hobart at TasTAFE's Drysdale South Campus. Its first competition exhibits will be poured on Monday January 18.

Around 450 discretely different Tasmanian wines are likely to be presented to the show's judging panel before tastings conclude and all trophy decisions are finalised on Thursday January 21.

Riversdale Estate at Cambridge in the Coal River Valley will host the event's trophy presentation dinner on Friday January 22.

Its popular French Bistro overlooks Pitt Water and the estate's expansive vineyard.

Guests will be greeted on arrival with glasses of the show's trophy-winning sparkling wines, along with a selection of small, appetising Tassie taste treats.

A sumptuous, multi-course degustation menu will be served throughout the evening, with each dish matched to the event's trophy-winning table wines.

Superb Tasmanian produce - and, of course, 'the best of the best' in Tasmanian wines - will be punctuated by the presentation of show awards.

Tasmanian Wine Show Society President Phil Laing says exhibitors can lodge their entries electronically at www.taswineshow.azurewebsites.net

Participation in the show is open to all wines produced from 100 per cent Tasmanian grapes. Entries in the January event opened at the beginning of November and close on Monday November 30.

"The first Tasmanian Wine Show was held back in 1991," Laing says.

"Next January's will be the 31st Tasmanian Wine Show. It will also mark the 30th anniversary of the participation of our panel chair, Huon Hooke. We've come a long way over three decades. The 1991 show comprised just 43 wines from 16 exhibitors. It was presided over by respected author and critic James Halliday.

"Huon joined the judging panel the following year. Huon and James's long-term commitment and promotion of the event have been of tremendous benefit to the Tasmanian wine industry."

No thanks to COVID-19, next year's Tasmanian Wine Show will be judged by an all-Australian panel.

The support of the Department of State Growth had seen recent shows include international guest judges, namely Patrick Comiskey, Anthony Rose and Chuck Hayward.

Organisers had engaged UK 'Wine Detective' Sarah Ahmed for 2021 but she subsequently withdrew due to travel restrictions.

Leading Champagne and sparkling wine authority Tom Stevenson participated in the 2008 and 2012 Tasmanian Wine Shows.

"Having international judges of the stature of Tom Stevenson and the like is really very important to a small-scale industry like Tasmania's," Laing explains.

"One of the key purposes of the show is to have highly regarded wine people come and participate, in order to inform their palates so that they can then inform the world."

The Tasmanian Wine Show Society President admits he and his volunteer committee have had some nervous moments in planning for 2021.

Many Australian capital city wine shows were cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The reality is that organising next January's show hasn't been that much different from previous years, except for developing our COVID-safe plan," Laing says.

"There are always issues that present us with challenges - judges get sick, need to be hospitalised or have their homes flooded... You name it, we've experienced our share of last-minute hitches. You just have to have a range of contingencies in place, and that's exactly how we've addressed our 31st Tasmanian Wine Show."

Laing is quick to add that the Royal Agricultural Show Society of Tasmania managed to run a very successful Royal Hobart Wine Show barely a month ago.

The rescheduled event - normally held in August - received over 500 wine entries and was judged by well qualified, experienced judges living and working in the state.

January's Tasmanian Wine Show judging panel will see Huon Hooke joined by South Australians Adam Wadewitz and Natalie Cleghorn.

Wadewitz is Shaw + Smith joint CEO and senior winemaker of the Adelaide Hills company that owns and operates Tolpuddle Vineyard in Tasmania's Coal River Valley.

Cleghorn is winemaker at Yalumba Wines. The 150-year-old industry flagship is owned by the Hill-Smith family, who owns and operates Jansz Tasmania and Dalrymple Vineyards in the state.

Visit www.taswineshow.org for further show details.