The Canterbury A&P Association, a registered charity, is proud to announce that the New Zealand Agricultural Show is back for 2021 and entries have opened for the Wine Competition.

This year the Association have introduced some changes to the competition. After 18 years as the New Zealand Aromatic Wine Competition the competition has expanded, and has been renamed to The Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition Presented by the George Hotel. The Association will judge all competition winners against each other to create a Regional Champion for all classes.

For 2021, we are pleased to announce that The George Hotel, in Christchurch, has come on board as our naming sponsor.

In keeping with The George’s commitment to serving and celebrating New Zealand’s finest wines, in the most elegant of settings with the best of local and seasonal produce, The George is proud to be the naming sponsor of the Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition. Judging will take place at The George on the 2nd and 3rd of October. 

The competition now accepts all wine types, including non-aromatic varieties and organic wines. We have added a regional category to our Competition. Wine regions include Auckland (including Waiheke Island and Northland), Gisbourne, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Tasman (including Nelson), Canterbury and Otago. Further details on operational changes, together with competition rules can be found here.

Promotion of winners
The competition medal winners will be announced with a media release to key media on 6th October.

Results are also circulated to our wine industry database, will feature in New Zealand Winegrower Magazine and be advertised on all of our social media platforms.

The Champion Wine will be displayed in the foyer of The George Hotel in Christchurch, for one month following the competition.

The trophy wines will be showcased at the Show, in the highly popular Food & Wine Pavilion, as well as being part of the Show Wine Tour – a new attraction at the Show for 2021. We will be providing Show visitors with the opportunity to taste the trophy wines on Canterbury Anniversary Day, the final day of the Show.

The trophy wines will be showcased at the Show, visible to our 2500 members and the approx. 100,000 people that visit the Show over its 3-day duration.

We now accept ALL wine varieties. We have also made some changes in the way the competition operates, further details on those changes, together with competition rules, can be found here.

Visit: The Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition