New Zealand International
WINE SHOW 2012
Formed in 2005, the New Zealand International Wine Show is firmly established as the largest wine competition held in New Zealand each year. Wines from any country and made from any variety can be entered.
In 2012, 2122 entries were received from thirteen countries and a record 224 gold medals were awarded. The reason for the high percentage of gold medals is entirely due to the quality of the entries. Many of the bigger wine companies submitted only wines above a quality level, so many of the wines available in supermarkets were not in the judging line-up. In particular the wines sent in by Australian wineries were simply stunning. The team of judges had never encountered so many high quality, high profile wines on the judging table before.
Chaired by Bob Campbell MW, New Zealand’s most experienced senior wine judge and this country’s leading wine educator, the 26 senior wine judges included a number of leading winemakers, several Masters of Wine and many key industry personnel. Most have each been involved in major wine competitions for more than a decade.
Amongst the highlights was the awarding of 23 gold medals in the Sauvignon Blanc class and importantly 21 going to wines from the ‘testing’ 2012 vintage. This is excellent news for our most prolific variety as there were question marks over the quality of the vintage and those questions have now been well and truly answered.
There were 18 golds awarded to Pinot Gris wines mostly of Marlborough origin, 26 golds for Chardonnays and 23 for Pinot Noirs. The Pinot Noirs were mostly a mixture of Central Otago and Marlborough wines.
The New Zealand International Wine Show has always attracted a stunning line up of Australian reds with the quality of wines this year probably the strongest yet. Forty-three gold medals were awarded to Shiraz/Syrah wines, including 5 to New Zealand Syrahs judged alongside the Australians.
The judges also awarded 416 silver medals and 940 bronze.
All of the medal results can be viewed HERE. The gold medals and Trophies were awarded at the Awards Dinner on the 29th September and the TROPHY results are now available.
Source: https://www.nziws.co.nz/