Wine Awards reveal rise in affordable Pinot Noir

Media release
20 September 2010

New World Wine Awards reveal rise in affordable Pinot Noir

While Pinot Noir is traditionally viewed as a more expensive varietal, the medal tally for New Zealand Pinot Noir at this year’s New World Wine Awards shows that affordable home grown Pinot is on the rise.

The result comes after an expert panel of 12 independent judges spent two days blind-tasting and evaluating a wide range of wines in Wellington on 20-21 July. Each wine entered into the competition is judged according to the same internationally-recognised points system as other leading wine awards.

“This year, the judges found the Pinot Noir was a very strong class with several Gold medals awarded and the majority of wines displaying great concentration of classic Pinot Noir aromas and flavours. With each wine judged on its merits, and the entry requirement for wines to retail for under $25, that’s very good news for Pinot Noir drinkers,”says Jim Harré, Chair of the 2010 New World Wine Awards judging panel.

Of the 126 Pinot Noirs entered into the awards, 60 were awarded medals: five Gold, 11 Silver and 44 Bronze. As well as meeting the requirement to retail for less than $25, each wine was required to be readily available, with at least 500 cases available for sale.

Overall, the competition attracted 1,035 wine entries from New Zealand and overseas. Of the 160 vineyards that entered, over 50 were new to the competition, reflecting the increasing awareness and recognition of the awards among winemakers.

Across all varietals the judges awarded a total of 35 Gold, 105 Silver and 348 Bronze medals after ranking the colour, taste and smell of each wine, based on its individual merits. Of those winners, New Zealand wines claimed 29 Gold, 71 Silver and 248 Bronze medals. Wines from the Marlborough region won the most medals (160) ahead of Hawkes Bay (74).

Following a separate ‘taste-off’ of the top wines in each category by all the judges, the following awards were made:

Top Red Wine – Wolf Blass Gold Label Shiraz 2008 (Australia)
Top White Wine – Dashwood Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (New Zealand)
Top Sparking Wine – Brancott Estate Reserve Brut Cuvée Chardonnay Pinot Noir (New Zealand)

“For the second year running, the Brancott Estate Reserve Brut Cuvée Chardonnay Pinot Noir was awarded top sparking wine which really reflects the consistency and calibre of the wine.”

“The Sauvignon Blanc and ‘Red and Blend’ varietals won the highest number of medals overall with 18% and 15% respectively. The Pinot Gris class also showed good growth, taking home 47 medals, up from 35 last year,” said Mr Harré.

A Top 50 selection of the award winning wines will be showcased in the 2010 New World Wine Awards booklet and customers will have the chance to view food and wine matches, video clips of the judging process, recipes and full competition results on the revamped 2010 New World Wine Awards website at http://www.newworld.co.nz/wine-beer/wine-awards

For the first time New World customers will be able to use their mobile phones to find food matches and detailed information for all of the Top 50 wines on a mobile website by simply scanning a bar code on the neck tag displayed on each wine in any New World supermarket or by texting a unique number displayed with each wine to 5900.

The medal-winning wines will be on sale in all New World Supermarkets from Monday 20 September.

ENDS

MEDIA BACKGROUNDER

About the New World Wine Awards 2010
• Wines entered into the New World Wine Awards must retail for below $25 per bottle, and there must be at least 500 cases of each wine available for sale.
• Wines were judged by an independent panel of 12 expert wine judges, and overseen by Jim Harré, Chair of the judging panel. The judges are highly experienced at judging at distinguished international wine competitions in New Zealand and overseas, including the Decanter World Wine Awards in London and the San Francisco International Wine competition in the USA.
• Using the same internationally recognized system as other leading wine awards, the judges awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals where appropriate, and convened to select the overall top red, top white and top sparkling wines.

Key statistics
• 1035 wines (from 160 vineyards) have been entered in the awards this year. Of the 160 vineyards that have entered, 50 were new to the competition.
• The judges awarded a total of 35 Gold, 105 Silver and 348 Bronze medals.
• New Zealand wines claimed 29 Gold, 71 Silver and 248 Bronze medals.
• New Zealand wines won two out of the three best wines – best sparking and best white.

Regional breakdown of the award winners from New Zealand
Region / Entries / Gold / Silver / Bronze
Marlborough / 305 / 15 / 37 / 108
Hawkes Bay / 179 / 4 / 18 / 52
Nelson / 42 / 4 / 2 / 15
Canterbury / 37 / 3 / 4 / 12
Wairarapa/Wellington / 38 / 2 / 4 / 10
Gisborne / 45 / 0 / 2 / 13
Otago / 43 / 0 / 1 / 16
Auckland / 12 / 0 / 0 / 2
Other / 53 / 0 / 10 / 16

• Of the international wine entries, the majority (277) were from Australia, with Italy, France and Portugal also well represented.
• Of the overseas wine entries, Australia won the most medals with a total of 6 Gold, 32 Silver and 90 bronze. Of the 12 French wines entered, 4 Bronze medals were awarded and of the 14 Italian wines entered, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals were awarded.

• A full range of varietals were entered in the awards:
­ / Of the 455 red wines entered this year, there were significantly more Pinot Noir entries (126 up from 102 from last year)
­ / Of the 579 white wines entered this year, there was an increase in Sparkling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier varietals from last year.

Breakdown of award winners by varietal
Varietals / Entries / Gold / Silver / Bronze / % of entries that won a medal
Reds & Blends (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot) / 169 / 1 / 13 / 60 / 43
Shiraz/Syrah and predominant blends / 103 / 4 / 14 / 43 / 59
Rose / 17 / / 4 / 3 / 41
Pinot Noir / 126 / 5 / 11 / 44 / 47
Other reds / 40 / / 4 / 9 / 33.5
Pinot Gris / 105 / 4 / 11 / 32 / 44
Sauvignon Blanc / 189 / 10 / 17 / 61 / 46
Chardonnay / 128 / 4 / 17 / 41 / 48
Riesling / 52 / 4 / 5 / 19 / 53
Sparkling / 52 / 1 / 1 / 15 / 32
Gewurztraminer / 22 / 1 / 3 / 7 / 50
Viognier / 12 / / 2 / 4 / 50
Sweet wines / 7 / / 2 / 2 / 57
Other whites / 10 / 1 / 1 / 8 / 100

Judging process
• The judges completed a two-day blind tasting of the wines. They worked in panels of three to evaluate the colour, taste and smell of each wine and make collective decisions about each wine, based on its individual merits.
• They ranked each wine according to an internationally recognized 20 point system, and awarded Gold (18.5 and above), Silver (17.0 – 18.4 points) and Bronze (15.5 – 16.9 points) medals accordingly. The judges then all convened to select the top red, white and sparkling wines overall.
• Under this system, the wines were benchmarked against what a perfect wine should be like, rather than simply competing against each other. This meant there were often multiple medals awarded in each category.
• The judging process at the New World Wine Awards was subject to a high degree of disclosure and regulation. Judges were required to declare all of their interests and every endeavour was made to ensure that no judge tasted wine they had an interest in, or involvement with, outside of the competition. A double-blind system of referencing wines was also used.
• In addition to the expert judging panel, there were eight associate judges who were selected from New World’s team of Liquor Managers. They also provided their opinions on each wine, but their scores did not count towards the final mark. They received specialised training and gained valuable experience by being part of the judging process, which they can then use to enhance the way they select wines for the New World cellars, and to assist customers with questions about wine.
• 3,126 bottles of wine were allocated their correct positions in the event and over 6,000 glasses of wine were poured and the glasses washed up.

Results
• The results of the New World Wine Awards 2010 will be announced on 20 September 2010.
• Winning wines will be distinguished in New World stores by medal stickers (gold, silver, bronze and top wines).
• A Top 50 selection of the award winning wines will be showcased in the New World Wine Awards booklet and online at newworld.co.nz.


About the judges

Jim Harré, Chairman of the judging panel / Jim’s grandfather, father and brother were all winemakers. Jim is currently a Senior Judge with New Zealand Winegrowers, Chairman of Judges for the New World Wine Awards, an International Wine Judge and Wine Consultant for Air New Zealand. Jim was involved in the creation of the Air New Zealand Wine Club and the development of the Flight Attendant Wine Education Programme. Jim and his wife now own The Gates Country Lodge, a boutique luxury lodge near Hanmer Springs.
Terry Copeland: / Terry has 20 years’ experience in the wine industry, and is one of New Zealand’s leading international wine judges. Terry Copeland regularly travels overseas to judge at international Wine Awards shows, including the Decanter World Wine Awards in London and the San Francisco International Wine Competition in the USA.
John Hancock: / John helped set up Morton Estate Winery in 1983, and won the 1995 International Wine Challenge in London. In 1996 he established Trinity Hill in Hawke’s Bay, now well recognized as one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent wineries. John has been on the Cuisine wine-tasting panel with Bob Campbell and Michael Brajkovich. 2009 is John’s 40th harvest.
Jeff Clarke: / Jeff Clarke is one of the more experienced Australasian winemakers and wine judges, starting his career in wine in 1976. He has been judging in New Zealand and Australian wine shows for over 30 years, including the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, Liquorland Wine Show, New World Wine Awards, and for Cuisine Magazine.
Cath Oates: / Originally from Margaret River, Australia, Cath has been working in the wine industry in Marlborough since 2006. She took on the role of Operations Director at Mudhouse Wine Group in December 2009 and heads up the viticulture and winemaking divisions. Her previous role was as Marlborough Vintners’ senior winemaker/general manager and prior to that she worked as the senior winemaker/manager for 2.5 years at Spring Creek Vintners.
Simon Waghorn: / Simon Waghorn has been involved in the New Zealand wine industry for over 25 years, and has been winemaking in Marlborough since1995, predominantly with Whitehaven and Astrolabe Wines.
Anna Flowerday: / As a fifth generation winemaker, Anna has a long history of involvement with the wine industry. Since 2003, Anna and her husband Jason have been winemakers at Te Whare Ra vineyard in Marlborough. Anna’s wine industry background includes working for 7 years as a winemaker with Hardy’s in Australia (McLaren Vale) and at Leasingham (Clare Valley) wineries. Her achievements include becoming a National Finalist in The Wine Society Young Australian Winemaker of the Year in 2002 and being an associate wine show judge.
Sarah
Burton: / After completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University, Sarah worked on vintages in Portugal, France, Italy, the USA and Australia. Since 2004, Sarah has been working as a winemaker in Marlborough and has recently joined the winemaking team at Cloudy Bay. She has judged at the Royal Easter Show, Liquorland Top 100, International Wine Show and the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
Patrick Materman: / Former New Zealand Winemaker of the Year, Patrick Materman leads a team of winemakers and oversees Montana’s South Island winemaking at the Montana Brancott Winery. Recently, Patrick has established his own Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley.
Michael Ivicevich: / Michael began his career with Delegat’s Wine Estate 20 years ago, and is now Chief Winemaker, overseeing the internationally acclaimed Oyster Bay label. Michael has been a senior wine judge for the last nine years, having judged at the New World Wine Awards since its inception, and has been invited to judge at the International Wine Challenge in London.
Sarah-KateDineen / Sarah-Kate is a winemaker with 15 years experience in the industry. She worked as winemaker/general manager in Australia’s Hunter Valley before moving back to her roots in New Zealand with her husband Dan to start a winery in Wanaka, Central Otago called Maude Wines. Sarah-Kate became a Young Achiever Scholar as well as a Len Evans Scholar and progressed her way though the wine show judging system to become a judge and panel chair of several capital and regional wine shows through Australia.
Simon Nunns: / Simon Nunns is winemaker at Coopers Creek Vineyard, and judges in a number of wine competitions both in New Zealand and Australia. Apart from wine, his interests include food, art, architecture, history, music and road cycling.
Dr Rowald Hepp: / Dr Rowald Hepp is the Director and Head Winemaker of Schloss Vollrads – one of the oldest vineyards in the world, based in the Rhine Valley in Germany. Rowald has judged in major international wine competitions around the world including Germany, Switzerland, USA, Austria and Japan. In 2001 he received the Gault Millau award for ‘Estate Director of the Year’.

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