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www.wineoftheweek.com
edited by Sue Courtney
e-mail address: winetaster@clear.net.nz
Wine News
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New Zealand Wine News
8 Jun 2008: NZ winners at International Wine Challenge
9 Mar 2008: Syrah takes out top Easter award
8 Mar 2008: Young Hawkes Bay winemaker wins Inspiring New Zealander award
26 Feb 2008: 79 Golden Wines at Royal Easter Wine Show
19 Feb 2008: 2008 Harvest underway
19 Feb 2008: Lindauer Cellars closes its door
18 Feb 2008: Sileni Sponsors New Zealand Cricket
18 Feb 2008: New General Manager Global Marketing for Pernod Ricard New Zealand
4 Feb 2008: Unison Wines sold
4 Feb 2008: Ant McKenzie leaves Spy Valley
29 Jan 2008: Villa Maria wins top accolades in the USA
31 Dec 2007: NZ Order of Merit for Marlborough Winemaker
30 Dec 2007: Peninsula Estate to go under the hammer
21 Dec 2007: Gisborne Wineries affected by Earthquake
30 Nov 2007: Rod McDonald joins Matariki as CEO
25 Nov 2007: Trinity Hill Homage Syrah tops Air NZ Wine Awards
23 Nov 2007: Villa Maria cleans up in Winestate Awards
13 Nov 2007: New Zealand scoops Tri Nations Trophies
8 Nov 2007: Aromatic winners from the Royal Show
5 Nov 2007: Wine Style Asia Awards
2 Nov 2007: Overseas book and magazine top selections.
29 Oct 2007: Montana Man honoured in Marlborough.
23 Oct 2007: Vidal Syrah claims Hawkes Bay prize.
23 Oct 2007: Collards Wines closes its doors.
The New Zealand Wine Industry has crushed a whopping 285,000 tonnes of grapes this year, up 39% on last year and almost 4 times the production of 10 years ago. Marlborough alone crushed 195,000 tonnes of grapes, which is more than the total crush across the whole country in 2006. The big jump in production, which is 40,000 tonnes more than predicted, is due primarily to increased production of Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough to satisfy export demand.
From out more from my blog
[Top] 8 Jun 2008: NZ winners at International Wine Challenge
Twenty two New Zealand wines were awarded gold medals at the recent International Wine Challenge, reputedly the biggest wine competition in the world. Two New Zealanders were amongst the five Senior Chairmen - Sam Harrop MW as a 'resident' Chairman and Bob Campbell MW as 'Guest Chairman' for the 2008 competition. New Zealand-born Peter McCombie MW was also a panel chairman.
In the first round, wines are judged by variety and region, e.g. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc against Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. In the second round wines are still judged by country / region, although all New Zealand sauvignon blancs may be judged together. In the last round, all the gold medal wines for a variety / style / category from anywhere in the world are judged together to determine trophies. See How the Challenge Works, for more information
The New Zealand gold medal winning wines, obtained from the International Wine Challenge website, were…
- Delta Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
- Drylands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
- Maven Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
- Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
- The Reach Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (produced by Vavasour)
- Awawhiti Central Otago Riesling 2006
- Awawhiti Central Otago Riesling 2007
- Woollaston Nelson Riesling 2007
- Gibbston Valley Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006
- Gravitas Marlborough Pinot Noir 2006
- Hinton Estate Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006
- Kim Crawford SP Rise-and-Shine Creek Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006
- Kusuda Martinborough Pinot Noir 2006
- Martinborough Vineyard Martinborough Pinot Noir 2006
- Mount Difficulty Roaring Meg Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007
- Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2006
- Voss Estate Martinborough Pinot Noir 2006
- Wild Earth Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006
- CJ Pask Declaration Cabernet Merlot Malbec 2004
- Craggy Range le Sol Hawkes Bay Syrah 2005
- Seven Canoes Hawkes Bay Syrah 2006 (made by Craggy Range)
- Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah 2007
[Top] 9 Mar 2008: Syrah takes out top Easter award
Villa Maria Reserve Syrah 2006 from the Gimblett Gravels in Hawkes Bay has taken out the Champion Wine of the Show trophy at the 55th Annual Royal Easter Show Wine Awards, announced in Auckland on Saturday night. There were 14 class Trophies awarded, all of which were in contention for the overall award. They were -
Daniel Le Brun NV Marlborough Methode Champenoise
Saint Clair Pioneer Block 11 Cell Block Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Bannock Brae Goldfields Central Otago Cathy's Rosé 2007
Spy Valley Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2007
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Hawkes Bay Viognier 2007
West Brook Marlborough Riesling 2006
Church Road Reserve Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2006
Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Marlborough Pinot Gris 2007
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Marlborough Pinot Noir 2006
Villa Maria Reserve Hawkes Bay Syrah 2006
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Omahu Gravels Hawkes Bay Merlot 2006
Church Road Reserve Hawke's Bay Cabernet Merlot 2005
Mills Reef Elspeth Hawkes Bay Malbec 2005
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Hawkes Bay Noble Viognier 2007
Kate Broadhurst from Hawkes Bay winery Elephant Hill, has won the Inspiring New Zealanders scholarship in Wine 2008. This one-year scholarship includes mentoring from Marlborough winemaker John Belsham, a vintage in France and a guest associate judge position at the 2008 Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
See www.inspiringnewzealanders.com
[Top] 26 Feb 2008: 79 Golden Wines at Royal Easter Wine Show
1334 New Zealand wines were judged at the 55th annual Royal Easter Show Wine Awards last weekend and the result was 79 Gold medals (5.9%), 200 Silver medals (15.0%), and 576 Bronze medals (43.2%). Although there were slightly fewer entries than in 2007, the 855 medals reflected an increase of almost 100 medals across all medal classes. Top performing classes were Sauvignon Blanc (17 medals) with Martinborough and Nelson savvies in the mix as well as Marlborough. Disappointingly Pinot Noir received only 9 gold medals, the number down on last year, but the top medals going to five different regions. Syrah continues to excel with 9 gold medals, the same number as Pinot Noir, but for a class that was about a third the size. Check out www.wineshow.co.nz.
[Top] 19 Feb 2008: 2008 Harvest underway
The 2008 New Zealand wine grape harvest kicked off in Gisborne on February 8th, however the bulk of the harvest is expect to start near the end of next week. The harvest is being forecast by New Zealand Winegrowers to produce between 225,000 and 245,000 tonnes of grapes, which is quite a reasonable jump over last years record 205,000 tonnes. The increase is due to 2,000 hectares more of producing vines and a return to more normal yields.
[Top] 19 Feb 2008: Lindauer Cellars closes its door
Lindauers Cellars, the visitor centre, wine cellar, tasting room and restaurant at Pernod Ricard's Gisborne winery, closed its doors for the last time on Friday 15th February. The company decided that due to the low number of visits to the cellar door, the operation was not commercially viable.
[Top] 18 Feb 2008: Sileni Sponsors New Zealand Cricket
Sileni Estates based in Hawkes Bay has become New Zealand Cricket’s Official Wine Supplier for the 2007/08 season, including The National Bank Series between the BLACKCAPS and England. While the matches are played throughout the country, Hawkes Bay has long been a venue with the BLACKCAPS playing England in Napier in an ODI on 20 February, and in third Test, starting at McLean Park on 22 March.
[Top] 18 Feb 2008: New General Manager Global Marketing for Pernod Ricard New Zealand
Christoph Drefers has been appointed as General Manager Global Marketing for Pernod Ricard New Zealand, the country's largest wine producer and distrributor. Most recently employed by Fosters Group NZ as Marketing Director, he has also held senior marketing positions at Lion Nathan Ltd and NZ Dairy Foods Ltd as well as working extenisvely in South America and Europe. He will become a key member of Pernod Ricard New Zealand’s executive team based in Auckland.
[Top] 4 Feb 2008: Unison Wines sold
Boutique Hawkes Bay producer, Unison Wines, tipped by Jancis Robinson in her concise Wine Companion (2001) as one of the world's top 28 up and coming producers, has been sold to a UK couple.
"It's like a divorce," said owner Anna-Barbara Helliwell. She says that the decision for her and Bruce to sell was not financially motivated. Bruce Helliwell will continue as consultant winemaker until December 2008 with his name going on any wines that he sees through to bottling in that period.
More details on my blog.
[Top] 4 Feb 2008: Ant McKenzie leaves Spy Valley
Ant McKenzie is leaving Spy Valley Wines after 8 years as Chief Winemaker to join Mudhouse Wines as Chief Winemaker. Mudhouse labels include Mudhouse, Waipara Hills, Dusky Sounds, Canterbury House and Le Grys and grapes are sourced from from Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Waipara and Central Otago as well as Marlborough. Ant says he is excited about the regional diversity and is particularly motivated by the opportunity to make Waipara riesling and Central Otago pinot noir.
[Top] 29 Jan 2008: Villa Maria wins top accolades in the USA
Wine Enthusiast magazine has awarded Villa Maria Estate the title of ' New World Winery of the Year' in its annual Wine Star Awards dinner. George Fistonich travelled to New York to accept the award and the Villa Maria Taylors Pass Sauvignon Blanc 2006 was also poured at the dinner. Check here for photos
. US wine critic, Michael Franz, has also named has named Villa Maria Estate as his 2007 World Wine Producer of the Year, claiming the winery is at the “forefront in the historic rise of Kiwi wine”.
[Top] 31 Dec 2007: NZ Order of Merit for Marlborough Winemaker
Ross Lawson of Lawson's Dry Hills Wines in Marlborough has been honoured in the 2008 New Years Honours List with a New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the wine industry and the community.
Ross has been a Marlborough winegrower since 1980 and founded Lawson's Dry Hills with his wife Barbara in 1992. Ross was also on the founding committee of the New Zealand Screwcap Initiative and says on his website that he believes Lawson's Dry Hills was the first winery in the world to seal all their bottles with screwcaps.
[Top] 30 Dec 2007: Peninsula Estate to go under the hammer.
Waiheke Island's Peninsula Estate, established in 1986/1987, is to go under the auctioneer's hammer on February 16th. It is expected to attract bids around $6 million. The Peninsula Estate website says they will not be open during the 2007/2008 summer. www.peninsulaestate.co.nz.
[Top] 21 Dec 2007: Gisborne Wineries affected by Earthquake
Although no winery staff were hurt in last night's 6.8 Richter Magnitude earthquake in Gisborne, winery stock and buildings did not fare so well.
Winery tanks and vats ruptured at Pernod Ricard's (the old Montana Wines) three Lytton Road wineries and staff and firefighters were unable to stop the flow on chardonnay down the drains, according to a report in the Gisborne Herald.
The Works, an old abbatoir coonverted into a winery and popular restaurant, had part of its brick facade collapse while cracks have been found in the remainder the building.
Six of the region's winemakers met earlier today to discuss damages. More details on my Blog.
[Top] 30 Nov 2007: Rod McDonald joins Matariki as CEO.
Rod McDonald, a Champion winemaker who spent 11 years at Vidal Estate in Hawkes Bay until leaving last year to pursue his own interests, has joined Matariki Wines as CEO and Chief Winemaker. He takes over the top executive role from Matariki's Founder and Chairman, John O'Connor, who will now increase his focus on the strategic growth and expansion of the company's activities.
Rod, who is the Chair of Hawke's Bay Winegrowers, is an active industry advocate, judge and panel member and his activities have also included significant contribution to the region's rapidly rising star varietal – Syrah.
"I'm excited about getting further involved in the future of Hawke’s Bay wines, especially as part of Matariki, it's a company I know well and I have huge respect for," states Rod of his new role.
[Top] 25 Nov 2007: Trinity Hill Homage Syrah tops Air NZ Wine Awards
Trinity Hill Homage Syrah 2006 has won the supreme Champion Wine of the Show Trophy at the 2007 Air New Zealand Wine Awards. It tops off a successful Syrah year for Trinity Hill, after its Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2006 won Champion Syrah again Australian competition at the Liquorland Top 100 two months ago and also took the accolade of Champion Red Wine.
This year the Air New Zealand Wine awards presented a new trophy for wines that were grown and made in accordance with Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand industry standards. Wines that adhered to these standard and won medals are deemed to be 'Pure'. Thus 'Pure Gold', 'Pure Silver and 'Pure Bronze' medals were awarded. The 'Pure Gold' medal winning wines then vied for the Sustainable Wine trophy and the inaugural winner was Cottage Block Hawkes bay Chardonnay 2005.
However this win for Cottage Block Chardonnay should take nothing away from the overall Champion Chardonnay, the striking and impressive Sacred Hill Rifleman's Chardonnay 2006 from Hawkes Bay. Multiple Trophy winners in classes were due to trophies being awarded for Exhibition, Limited and Open categories as well.
A new addition to the Show was the 'Elite Gold' (thus 'Pure Elite Gold 'for sustainable wines), to reflect 'truly great wines deserving of special recognition' amongst the gold medal winners. Thirty two of the 83 gold medal winners were crowned 'Elite'. There were also 227 silver medals and 364 bronze medals awarded. A lavish description of the Trinity Hill Homage and a list of trophy winners can be found on my Blog.
Also check out www.airnzwineawards.co.nz - the short descriptions on the gold medal winning wines are mine.
[Top] 23 Nov 2007: Villa Maria cleans up in Winestate Awards
For the 9th time in 10 years, Villa Maria Estate has been awarded New Zealand Winery of the Year at Winestate Magazine's annual Wine of the Year Awards. A prolific competiton entrant, Villa Maria was far ahead of any other NZ winery in the Winestate tastings held over the last year, with 16 five-star awards and another 65 four and three star ratings. Villa Maria's Marlborough winemaker, George Geris, was named New Zealand Winemaker of the Year.
The other finalist wineries and thus winemakers, in the New Zealand Winery of the Year and Winemaker of the Year were
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Saint Clair Estate and Matt Thompson
Waimea Estates and Michael Brown
Forrest Estates and John Forrest
Stoneleigh Marlborough and Jamie Marfell
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Top Sparkling went to No. 1 Family Estate No.1 Cuvee Marlborough Blanc de Blancs NV
The top two Sauvignon Blancs were Eradus Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 and Stopbanks Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
No.2 Chardonnay went to Villa Maria Single Vineyard Fletcher Marlborough Chardonnay 2005
The top two Pinot noirs were Olssens Slapjack Creek Central Otago Pinot Noir 2005 and Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Pinot Noir 2005
For full results, click here.
[Top] 13 Nov 2007: New Zealand scoops Tri Nations Trophies
The Tri Nations Wine competition held in Australia is unique that only wines from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa compete for top honours in thirteen classes. The wines in the competition are the best of the best, as selected by the judges, Bob Campbell MW (NZ), James Halliday (Aust) and Michael Fridjhon (Sth Africa). This year New Zealand picked up six class wins with Australia taking the remainder.
Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2005 from Hawkes Bay took out the Best Shiraz/Syrah, Red Wine of the Show and the top honour of 'Wine of the Show'.
Mt Difficulty Target Gully Central Otago Riesling 2006 won Aromatic class and White Wine of the Show.
Other NZ wines to win classes were: -
-
. Cardmember Vic Williams Selection Marlborough 2002 (Sparkling)
. Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
. Trinity Hills Gimblett Gravels Tempranillo 2006 (Other Reds)
. Wither Hills Noble Riesling 2006 (Dessert Wines)
[Top] 8 Nov 2007: Aromatic winners from the Royal Show
Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 '43 Degrees' Sauvignon Blanc 2007 has won Best Sauvignon Blanc as well as the top honour of Best in Show at the Royal New Zealand Show in Christchurch. This competition judges riesling, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, gewürztraminer, viognier and any other wine made in an aromatic style from any internationally recognised region.
25 golds, 47 silvers and 145 bronze medals were awarded from 365 entries. As well as the Saint Clair wine, the other top varietal wines were: -
-
. Forrest Estate Botrytised Riesling 2007 (Best Riesling)
. Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Pinot Gris 2007 (Best Pinot Gris)
. Lawson's Dry Hills Gewurztraminer 2007 (Best Gewurztraminer)
. Coopers Creek Limited Release Gisborne Viognier 2007 (Best Viognier)
. Coopers Creek SV 'The Little Rascal' Gisborne Arneis 2007 (Best Other Aromatic)
[Top] 5 Nov 2007: Wine Style Asia Awards
At the recent Wines for Asia expo, the Wine Style Asia Awards 2007 was held. Villa Maria Pinot Noir Reserve 2006 was awarded Champion Pinot Noir while Kaimira Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2007 was awarded Champion Sauvignon Blanc.
The Asian market is growing and at the expo, twelve individual New Zealand producers took stands. There were also generic stands for Central Otago, Hawkes Bay and Marlborough wines. 33 companies in total were represented. Check it out: www.winesforasia.com.
[Top] 2 Nov 2007: Overseas book and magazine top selections.
The Best of Wine in Ireland, a buyer's guide for Irish wine drinkers, has chosen Muddy Water Sauvignon Blanc 2006 as its "New World White Wine of the Year". The grapes for the wine were sourced from Marlborough and Nelson.
Villa Maria Estate has been selected as "New World Winery of the Year" in Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Wine Star Awards. George Fistonich will travel to New York to accept the award in January next year.
[Top] 29 Oct 2007: Montana Man honoured in Marlborough.
Gerry Gregg, who joined Montana Wines in Marlborough as an engineer in 1976, was the inaugural recipient of the David Herd Lifetime Achievement Award presented as part of the Marlborough Wine Weekend last Saturday night.
Now the National Wineries Manager for Pernod Ricard New Zealand, Mr Gregg was praised by Wine Marlborough chairman, Stuart Smith, as the 'quiet achiever'. He was also involved in setting up Marlborough Winemakers, which is now Wine Marlborough, and was part of the team that created the Marlborough Wine Festival on Montana's Brancott Estate. The festival celebrates its 25th anniversary next February.
[Top] 23 Oct 2007: Vidal Syrah claims Hawkes Bay prize.
An error by the Competition Director saw the wrong wine awarded the 'Champion Wine of the Show' at the recent Hawkes Bay Wine Awards. The winning wine was Vidal Reserve Syrah 2005, not Gunn Estate Skeetfield Chardonnay 2006 as previously reported. Consequently the champion wine maker is Hugh Crichton and the champion viticulturist is Oliver Powrie.
"We would like apologise for this mistake. It was an administrative error and we maintain full confidence in the Awards,” says Michael Pyatt, CEO, Hawkes Bay A&P Society Inc.
He says that this error bears no relationship to the withdrawal of Gunn Estate Skeetfield Chardonnay 2006 from the Awards. Yesterday Gunn Estate has withdrew their wine from the competition and returned their Trophies due to a perceived conflict of interest. Accordingly the Champion Chardonnay Trophyhas now been awarded to Sileni Estate Selection The Lodge Chardonnay 2005.
[Top] 23 Oct 2007: Collards Wines closes its doors.
Collards Brothers, which was established as an orchard in Henderson in 1910 and started winemaking in 1940, has announced it will sell its land in Henderson and cease winemaking. The press release says that the once-rural vineyard is now surrounded by industrial and commercial development and is no longer practical for a vineyard and winery. The land value has risen to a point that the location does not provide an economic return for the landowners. The directors have considered relocation but have decided the climate is not right to establish a new winery.
The Collard brothers, Bruce and Geoff, will continue to manage the 77-hectare property at Waimauku, “Rothesay”, which is used for farming and grape growing.
More info from www.collards.co.nz.
[Top] ** Click here for International wine news headlines **.