Another Bumper Year For Wine Show

 Press Release – 4th September 2009

Another Bumper Year For Wine Show
 

The country's largest wine competition, the New Zealand International Wine Show, has attracted in excess of 2000 entries for the 4th consecutive year.

Judging takes place at the North Harbour Stadium from Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th September with a total of 26 Senior Judges involved.

Bob Campbell MW will head the team as Chief Judge and his vast experience of international wine varieties and styles is a tremendous advantage for the show.

Amongst the 260 Sauvignon Blancs there are 170 from the 2009 vintage so the results of this variety will be eagerly awaited by the industry. With such a huge representation from the current year it will provide a clear indication of the quality that was achieved.

The Pinot Noir class includes over 100 Central Otago wines and there are 60 New Zealand Syrahs entered.

The New Zealand International Wine Show does not separate New Zealand wines from international entries so the wines such as Syrah are matched against the heavyweight Shiraz from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale.

Pinot Gris numbers are predictably up but surprisingly Viognier is down.

All the medal results will be made public on Monday the 14th September.

Pick the Trophies gold medal tasting

The Auckland public has an opportunity to taste all of the gold medal wines at a special function at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Thursday the 17th September.

The "Pick the Trophies" tasting runs from 6pm to 9pm and in addition to the lineup of brilliant wines, the public are asked to try and pick some of the Trophy wines that have been pre-selected by the judges.  Anyone who can correctly select at least four of the 15 trophy winning wines goes into a draw to win $1000 – drawn at the conclusion of the tasting.  Tickets for the tasting cost $30 per person and can be obtained from First Glass Wines in Takapuna or from the New Zealand International Wine Show website – www.nziws.co.nz. Tickets are limited.

Awards Dinner

The identity of the Trophy winners remain secret until the announcement and presentation at the Awards Dinner on Saturday 19th September.  Also on the Awards night is the announcement of the 2009 recipient of the Sir George Fistonich Medal.  This award is presented each year to a living legend of New Zealand wine.  The previous medals have been awarded to Bob Campbell MW, Kevin Judd, Terry Dunleavy MBE and Larry McKenna.

The night includes pre-dinner tasting of the gold medal wines, a four course meal, continuous gold medal wines throughout the dinner and dancing to the Shane Cortese Rock and Roll Band.

Tickets costs $140 and can be obtained from First Glass Wines, phone 09 4866415, or from the New Zealand International Wine Show website – www.nziws.co.nz.
 
 
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