Trophy Winner Comes Right Out of Left Field

Trophy Winner Comes Right Out of Left Field at Air New Zealand Wine Awards!

Te Awa is back in force after an extended hiatus from the wine show circuit, with their Left Field Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec 2009 ($26) scooping the coveted trophy for Champion Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot/Cabernet Blend at this week’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

Left Field is a mid-tier range produced by this pioneering winery situated smack in the heart of Hawke’s Bay’s Gimblett Gravels region on State Highway 50, and the wines are proving a popular choice with visitors to the cellar door, retail shoppers and restaurant diners alike.

“Lifted aromas of cassis, floral and spicy oak with a concentrated and beautifully harmonised palate” is what the judges had to say in the Air New Zealand Wine Awards Trophy and Gold Medal Guide for 2010, winemaker and General Manager Ant Mackenzie concurs. “I am absolutely delighted with this win for not only us but for Hawke’s Bay as a whole. Te Awa has always had a strong reputation with red blends; this result certainly confirms the calibre of the vineyard and indeed the 2009 vintage.”

Vintage 2009 was definitely kind to Te Awa as this Trophy announcement comes hot on the heels of a Gold Medal for the Te Awa Noble Chardonnay 2009 and a Gold Medal for the Te Awa Left Field Syrah 2009 were awarded to the Te Awa team at the Hawke’s Bay A&P Mercedes-Benz Wine Awards last month.

The Te Awa Noble Chardonnay 2009 has also just been selected by wine writer Yvonne Lorkin for her “Festive Top 50 Wines for under $50” newspaper wine guide due out on December 1 2010. Clearly impressed by the wine, her comments are as follows:

“Oozing lifted nectarine, grapefruit and toffee notes this sublime sticky has a seductively slippery honeyed flavour and texture. Good dessert chardonnay is hard to find, but this example is hard to beat”

ENDS

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