First Gold For NZ Screw-Top

Kim Crawford Wines

For Immediate Release: 5 October 2001

First Gold For Nz Screw-Top

New Zealand's screw-topped wines have cleared another significant hurdle.

Kim Crawford's 2001 Marlborough Dry Riesling has become the first such wine to win top honours at a major competition, carrying-off the Gold Medal and Trophy in the Riesling category at the "2001 Liquorland Top 100" Awards Evening in Auckland tonight (Thursday).

The Liquorland Top 100 is New Zealand's largest wine show and the only wine contest in this country to judge imported wines together with those produced locally.

"We're absolutely delighted by the win. It certainly vindicates our decision to bottle our Riesling in screw-tops this year and it also offers a pointer to the future for our wine industry," says Mr Crawford.

"This result serves to underline the relationship between screw-tops and wine quality. By eliminating cork taint and minimising oxidation, screw-tops help to emphasise the fruity, natural taste that is so important a feature of many of New Zealand's finest wines," he says.

Kim Crawford's Dry Riesling was the first of a several Marlborough wines to be launched with screw-top closures during August this year

The Top 100's Chief Judge , Master of Wine Bob Campbell, describes the gold medal as a fantastic achievement considering how few screw-top wines have found their way onto the wine show circuit.

"It's early days but this could be an indicator of things to come. It's fantastic stuff. Let's hope we get a whole lot more," he says.

According to Kim Crawford the award should go some way to reassuring those who were sceptical about the acceptability of screw-tops.

"Wine lovers are voting with their wallets," he adds, noting that his 2001 Dry Riesling has already achieved a 50 percent increase in sales over his 2000 vintage.

For further information, please contact:

Erica Crawford Marketing Director Kim Crawford Wines 021 386 140 09 529 0804 (business)

Released by Ian Morrison, Matter of Fact Communications Tel: 09 575 3223, Fax 09 575 3220, Email: matfact@ww.co.nz

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