The 6th edition of the London Wine Competition saw judges award Yealands Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 a Gold medal (93 points) and the Best in Show Pinot Noir, an ultimate seal of approval in the global wine industry. Held in London on March 20th & 21st 2023, Yealands scored highly in the judging criteria of quality, value, and packaging to receive this honour.
Yealands was also awarded another three Gold medals for their 2022 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, 2022 L5 Single Block Sauvignon Blanc and 2022 S1 Single Block Sauvignon Blanc, and an additional three Silver medals across the portfolio.
Chief Winemaker Natalie Christensen said the recognition was exciting and a reflection of the quality and diversity of styles coming out of Yealands’ Seaview Vineyard in the Awatere Valley sub-region of Marlborough. “It’s amazing to achieve a golden trifecta for our premium Yealands Estate Sauvignon Blancs! The Awatere Valley is such a special place, and the timing of the awards announcement was perfect as we were picking the last of our Seaview fruit for 2023 – a great morale boost for the team after a long five weeks of harvest.”
Christensen believes that an experimental wine-making technique may have given the 2021 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir an edge. “This Pinot was part of a trial where we played a mantra on repeat while it aged in the barrel – I like to think the mantra brought a special quality to the wine! It’s got beautifully delicate aromatic layers and a weighty elegance. There are ripe jammy notes and some of our Seaview herbal characteristics coming through too.”
The London Wine Competition is designed to applaud and award the wines that drinkers and wine lovers would enjoy choosing from a wine list of a restaurant or simply pick at a retail wine store. To be able to achieve this, the criteria of the London Wine Competition is to look at the wines as a whole. The panel of judges score the wines based on their quality, expertise and the potential they are made with. It also includes two other essential factors – the Value the wine offers and its Packaging.
The panel of judges at the competition consists of Sommeliers, Wine Directors from some of London’s finest restaurants, big chain buyers and independent merchants that have extensive commercial buying responsibility. Each panel includes a Master of Wine or a Master Sommelier.
Gold Medals
Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021
Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Yealands Estate Single Block L5 Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Yealands Estate Single Block S1 Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Silver Medals
Yealands Estate Single Vineyard P.G.R 2021
Yealands Reserve Grüner Veltliner 2022
The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc 2022
UK stockists: Yealands Estate wines are available at The Great Wine Co and Yealands Reserve Gruner Veltliner exclusively at Waitrose.
New Zealand: Shop the medal winners directly from the Yealands website here:
https://www.yealands.co.nz/
About Yealands Wine Group
Yealands Wines launched in August 2008 with the ambition of becoming a world leader in sustainable wine production. In addition to winning numerous international accolades for the quality of their wines, the company’s innovative approach to sustainable wine production has seen the extensive restoration of native vegetation within their vineyards to promote biodiversity and provide a habitat for native birds and insects and the installation and utilisation of renewable energy initiatives.
Yealands is the first winery in the world to be Toit? carbonzero certified from day one. The company has achieved a -34 % reduction in organisational emission intensity since 2013 and is a founding member of the International Wineries for Climate Action – the first agricultural initiative to be accredited under the United Nation’s “Race to Zero” programme. Yealands has set the ambitious target of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030 with the additional goal of becoming carbon positive by 2050.
Yealands has established itself as one of New Zealand’s prominent wine producers, creating premium quality sustainable wines that are exported to over 65 countries. Yealands Wine Group is owned by Marlborough Lines Limited.
About Natalie Christensen, Chief Winemaker
Natalie became part of the fulltime Yealands winemaking team in 2015 having already worked for other notable New Zealand wineries, Saint Clair Family Estate and Matahiwi Estate. Prior to joining Yealands, she was Winemaker at La Cana in Rias Baixas, Spain making Albariño for the Jorge Ordonez group. She became Yealands’ Chief Winemaker at the end of 2018.
Natalie is a gifted winemaker with well over a decade of winemaking experience under her belt. With a Masters of Science degree, a Bachelor of Music from Canterbury University, a Graduate Diploma in Oenology, as well as being a classically trained double bass player, Natalie is far from being your average winemaker. Her ingenious blend of science and music facilitates the creation of wines that are both technically excellent and artistically exciting. For Natalie, there is a strong link between music and wine.