As the results of wine show competitions are announced, wine
lovers are given some valuable help in sifting through the enormous numbers of
labels and wines in deciding what to purchase.
The results also provide a measure of how our domestic industry is
performing and where progress is being made.
Some wine shows such as the N.Z. International Wine Show and the
Liquorland ‘Top 100’ whose trophies were released on Friday 2 October, include imported
wines and provide assessments of these in the context of our own wines. The Champion Wine of the Show at the 2009
Liquorland ‘Top 100’ was the Mudhouse Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009. No surprise in many ways, as Mudhouse has
always been a strong performer, and New Zealand leads the world with this
variety. Villa Maria was named Champion
Producer at the ‘Top 100’ this year, reinforcing a most consistent showing by
this company for decades. Villa Maria
Estate labels took four trophies and eight golds at the show, especially
noteworthy the Villa Maria Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2007 which was Champion
Wine at the Bragato Awards this year again coming through with gold and trophy
for top Chardonnay at the ‘Top 100’..
Whilst New Zealand wines dominate the results through sheer
numbers, these international shows identify wines in classes and styles that
New Zealand does not have strength in.
One such category is that of Sparkling Wines. Here, Champagne rules supreme as very few
other sparkling wines capture yeast autolysis with finesse and consistency as
does Champagne. One of the best value
Champagnes has done it again. Lanvin
Brut NV took gold at both the NZIWS and Liquorland ‘Top 100’ this year, the
wine also winning the Trophy for Champion Champagne at the latter show. Other categories to peruse are Syrah or Shiraz,
Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines. Here,
Australian wines perform with great strength.
One wine to keep an eye out for is the Thorn-Clarke ‘Shotfire’ Shiraz
2008, gold at both shows this year and about to be released.. Other Reds and International Reds give us the
heads up on emerging varieties in this country that are already classics
overseas. Sangiovese, Montepulciano and
Tempranillo are examples. And of course
Fortified Wines, such as Sherry, Port and Liqueur Muscat have no peer as they
are the real thing!
These international wine competitions are a credit to
the conveners, Kingsley Wood for the NZIWS and Belinda Jackson for the
Liquorland ‘Top 100’ for their dealing with the numbers and diversity of entrants
and the complexity of the logistics. It
is worth visiting their websites to view the full results. Go to www.nziws.co.nz and www.top100.co.nz