NZ winemakers line up for elite trophies
20 Nov 2008
New Zealand's top winemakers will be recognised at a gala event in Wellington this weekend when trophy winners are announced at the 2008 Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
Winners of the handful of elite prizes will be chosen from the record number of medal winners in this year's awards.
A total of 1751 entries were received from New Zealand's 10 winegrowing regions. Medals were awarded across 14 different varieties with 91 gold, 239 silver and 399 bronze.
Pinot Noir strikes gold
For the first time pinot noir took the most gold with 21 medals across 14 varieties. Reisling also impressed the judges and notched up a record 11 gold medals. Sauvignon blanc also performed strongly, picking up 13 gold medals and syrah, riesling and chardonnay were standout varieties, with 8, 11 and 15 gold medals respectively.
In the Sustainable category, introduced last year, a total of seven pure gold medals were awarded, all of which will now also vie for the prestigious Bell Gully Champion Sustainable Wine Trophy. Nineteen pure silver and 32 pure bronze medals were also awarded in the Sustainable category.
Of the seven pure gold medals, five were awarded to wines from the Hawke's Bay region.
Trophy line up
The Air New Zealand Wine Awards trophies, including the overall Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Trophy, the Bell Gully Champion Sustainable Wine Trophy and the elite gold medal winners, will be announced at the gala dinner.
New Zealand Winegrowers' global marketing director, Chris Yorke, said the number of varietals achieving gold medals this year demonstrated that New Zealand winemakers were increasingly producing word-class wines across an exciting and diverse range of varietals.
High standard
International judge, Nick Stock, who also judged the competition in 2004, said he was impressed by the high standard of the entries this year.
"New Zealand excels at delivering wines that are direct and appealing. I’ve seen a huge increase in the quality of syrah since 2004 however the line-up of pinot noir across a range of regions was a highlight for me."
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