New Zealand’s most consumer-focused wine competition is back, offering wineries an unparalleled opportunity to get their top drops in front of wine-loving shoppers in New World stores nationwide.
Celebrating its 20th year, the New World Wine Awards are well-recognised within the industry for pairing the rigour of an international-standard wine show with a retail platform that sees the top wines enjoy a measurable lift in sales as a direct result of winning medals.
Any winery with wines fitting the entry criteria can enter this show. You don’t need to be an existing supplier to New World or Foodstuffs to enter the competition for under $25 wines!
With the goal to find the very best wines that are also affordable and accessible for shoppers, the awards have a unique focus on wines that retail for $25 or less. The Top 50 Gold medal-winning wines will be rewarded with distribution through 140 New World stores across the country and receive comprehensive publicity support both in-store and out. This means extensive brand exposure through in-store displays with eye-catching point of sale to help customers readily find and purchase these fantastic wines. The Top 50 under $25 wines will then continue to be actively promoted through the high-volume Christmas period, which immediately follows the dedicated five-week awards display.
The minimum volume requirement for popular varietals is 4,000 bottles to enable a wide spread of styles and producers to enter. To open the opportunity for more niche varietal producers and encourage consumer trial of lesser known varieties the minimum volume requirement for emerging varietals has been reduced to 1,600 bottles, and we have specific classes to give these wines additional focus.
Zero alcohol wines are encouraged to enter as we aim to find the best examples to satisfy our customer’s quest for delicious alternatives. Overseas wines are very welcome into the competition – overseas wines selected for the Top 50 must have the minimum volume requirement landed, out of port and available for dispatch by Friday 16 September.
We’re excited to move the judging administration and scoring to an online system and have chosen to trial the highly rated RNA judging system, the first wine show in NZ to do so. Expect a different experience when you enter your wines. In addition, entry fees have been kept at last year’s reduced level.
We’re again offering classes for selected New Zealand wines (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Red Blends, Sparkling) that retail over $25. New World will highlight the top ranked wine in each varietal/style scoring 95+ during the popular Christmas period under the New World Premium New Zealand Selection. As we find our feet in this space, this opportunity for over $25 wines is currently only open to existing suppliers and the wine must be stocked in at least 25 New World stores.
We’re delighted to welcome Sam Kim and Jen Parr as Co-Chairs. The independent panel of expert judges has a vast and impressive range of experience and includes long-time participants Simon Nunns (Consultant), Simon Fell (Trinity Hill), Kyle Thompson (Saint Clair), Stu Marfell (Foley Wines) and Terry Copeland (Consultant). We’re pleased to welcome back to the panel Emma Marris (Marisco), Natalie Christensen (Yealands), Paul Harré (Consultant), Sam Smail (Sea Level Wines), Michael Ivicevich (Delegats) and John-Paul Henderson (Salty Pidgin) and to be joined by new additions Laura Hutchinson (Consultant), Murray Cook (Dog Point), Helen Morrison (Villa Maria), and Jannine Rickards (Urlar). Jo Gear is the competition’s Chief Steward, ensuring the show is run to the highest industry standards.
We encourage you to enter! It makes great commercial sense to enter this consumer-focussed wine show with an expert judging panel that makes excellent value, top quality medal-winning wines readily available to a wide variety of customers.