Hawke’s Bay wines a hit at NZ in a Glass in Australia

6 April 2011

Hawke’s Bay wines continue to surprise and wow Australian audiences according to local winemakers who attended NZ in a Glass recently, New Zealand Winegrowers’ largest wine event held in Australia, New Zealand’s most significant export market.

The annual sold-out event is held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and attracts over 1000 wine trade and media during each day-long programme. Consumers are admitted each evening.

“There was quite a buzz amongst the attendees about Hawke’s Bay, there was a lot of word of mouth recommendations for people to come and taste our wines,” says Paul Ham of Alpha Domus. “They were really interested to know what else we did, what other New Zealand varieties there were to taste aside from Sauvignon Blanc. Our Syrah, Bordeaux blends, and especially our Chardonnays were a big hit.”

For Lisa Daysh of Bridge Pa Vineyard attending the events has proved very beneficial. “We found that although the Australians think they are the experts at producing Shiraz (called Syrah in New Zealand), actually they discovered that our style of Syrah is not what they expected and they were impressed.”

So much so that the company has secured a distributor with a large number of on premise customers and will be increasing its exports into Australia. Ms Daysh says the Rose they also took was well received and sales have eventuated.

Roger Tynan of Lime Rock Wine, one of two Central Hawke’s Bay wineries that attended, also found good interest in Hawke’s Bay wines. “I think guests were a bit surprised at the range of varietals that were represented by our region.

“Quite a few sommeliers were keen to taste our Sauvignon Blanc as an overdue alternative to that coming out of Marlborough. Grown on limestone, our wines have quite a distinct style and it has been taken on by a number of fine dining restaurants in Sydney, which is really gratifying.

“Overall I think the event opened the trade and media’s eyes a bit to the Hawke’s Bay diversity story.”

A comment supported by Paul Ham who says “the interest in our wines was quite heartening.”

The nine Hawke’s Bay wineries who attended were Alpha Domus, Bridge Pa Winery, Ngatarawa, Crossroads, Elephant Hill, Mills Reef, Trinity Hill, Cypress Wines and Lime Rock Wines.

ENDS

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