Martinborough Pinot Scores Hat Trick At London

3 June, 2008

Martinborough Pinot Noir Scores Hat Trick At London’s 2008 International Wine Challenge

Martinborough has pulled off an extraordinary trio of gold medals at the fiercely contested International Wine Challenge in London – the largest blind tasting competition in the world.

In results just announced, after an exhausting two-week judging process involving 400 judges, Martinborough has emerged with three gold medals for outstanding Pinot Noir.

This performance shows Martinborough continuing to punch well above its weight – taking three of New Zealand’s 10 Pinot Noir gold medals, despite accounting for barely 4% of the country’s overall wine production.

New Zealand’s top wine critic Bob Campbell, MW, who was appointed as the competition’s first International Guest Chairman, describes the Martinborough success as “outstanding”.

He adds: “Competing at the International Wine Challenge really puts you up against the pack. As well as the very best wines from all around the world, you also have the finest vineyards in France submitting the real classics.

“For a tiny region like Martinborough to score three golds for Pinot Noir is a terrific performance. I’ve judged wine competitions in nine countries and the IWC process is the most rigorous I’ve ever been through – to score a gold here is a huge achievement on a big stage.”

Interestingly, Burgundy - the home of Pinot Noir - received only 12 gold medals in total.

The gold medal winning Martinborough wines are:

• Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006
• Kusuda Pinot Noir 2006
• Voss Estate Pinot Noir 2006

Janine Tulloch, Chair of Wines from Martinborough, comments: “This is an astonishing performance for a tiny region such as ours. Martinborough’s reputation as a world class producer of Pinot Noir will be ramped up even further through this performance which will noted in wine circles all around the world.

“Coming on the heels of a superb 2008 vintage, it’s a golden run for the winemakers of Martinborough.”

Held annually, the International Wine Challenge is the world’s largest blind tasting of more than 40,000 bottles of wine from 40 countries.

ENDS