Pinot Noir Wins 2009 Air New Zealand Wine Awards
Waipara Hills Pinot Noir Wins Open Red Wine Trophy at the 2009 Air New Zealand Wine Awards
The winemaking team at Waipara Hills continues to build on its reputation for producing high-quality, boutique, award-winning wines that are accessible to all consumers, this weekend winning the Open Red Wine Trophy at the 2009 Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
The winning wine is the 2008 Waipara Hills Southern Cross Selection Central Otago Pinot Noir. For the second year running, Pinot Noir was the varietal awarded the most gold medals, this year receiving 19 of a total of 102 gold medals awarded across 14 varietals.
Waipara Hills winemaker Simon McGeorge said that the retail price of $36.90 meant that the wine stood out for its accessibility as well as its quality. “Most Pinot Noirs of this quality are in the $60 to $70 range, so we are doubly pleased to be producing a wine that is selected as the best while also being within reach of so many consumers.” The Open category is for wines with a minimum production of 2,500 cases or 22,500 litres.
The fruit for the wine came from the Waipara Hills company vineyard in the Bendigo region of Central Otago. With grapes from the same vineyard taking the Champion Pinot Noir Trophy at the 2007 Air New Zealand Wine Awards, along with other gold medals, Mr McGeorge said the vineyard is building a pedigree.
Mr McGeorge said the wine’s appeal to the judges lay in its complexity: “It brings in the brambly, juicy fruit of the previous year’s wine, along with the extra elements of increased structure from a cooler year and improved oak treatment. It’s so young now, and as it opens up with age the fruit will show the class that it has.”
The competition’s chair of judges Steve Smith (MW) said the real highlights of this year’s competition were the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay classes, which he described as “truly spectacular . . . The quality of a country’s red wine is always a symbol of a country’s place in the world of wine, and the results in the red wine classes this year demonstrate the enormous potential of New Zealand’s red wine varietals.”
The Waipara Hills brand, which includes the Soul of the South and Equinox labels in addition to the Southern Cross Selection, has won more than 300 awards since its first vintage in 2001.
The Pinot Noir was already a noted wine, with the 2007 Waipara Hills Southern Cross Selection Central Otago Pinot Noir receiving 5 stars from Cuisine magazine and 4.5 stars (93/100) in the Penguin Wine Guide 2009.
Continuing on an award-winning streak, Waipara Hills has also just received two sought-after Blue-Gold awards at the 2010 Sydney International Wine Competition, for the 2009 Waipara Hills Soul of the South Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and the 2008 Waipara Hills Soul of the South Waipara Pinot Gris.
