By Invitation Only…

And following on from their recent success in the Bragato Wine Awards and NZ International Wine Show, Waimea Estates has been notified that their Waimea Gewurztraminer 2013 has won the Trophy for Champion Aromatic wine in the Six Nations Wine Challenge 2014. The challenging countries are Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America. The objective of the Challenge is to discover the New World Champions. This is the only wine show in the world where the wines enter exclusively by invitation from the Judges.

Ben Bolitho, General Manager & Viticulturist, Waimea Estates summed it up nicely, “Nelson is quickly gaining a reputation for aromatic wines in New Zealand – and hopefully the world. The Outstanding Gold Medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London last year for our Gewurztraminer – and the Trophy for Champion Export Wine for our Gewurztraminer the year before that, all go to reinforcing that reputation for Waimea and the Nelson region.”

USA Judge Dan Berger commented on the Aromatics class as a whole. “A very nice flight of hard-to-make whites with many wines showing lovely tropical fruit terpenes. The trophy-winning Waimea Gewurztraminer had an exotic aroma of guava and pear which adds dramatic interest to spot-on varietal character. The soft finish is balanced by excellent acidity.”

The food match suggested by Jessica Martin from RockPool Bar and Grill, Sydney had everyone’s mouths watering, “This Gewurztraminer will go perfectly with wok fried chilli mud crab accompanied with native Australian bush greens.”

“Each of the six Judges is set the task of selecting 100 wines maximum across the 17 Classes – the best in their country regardless of size of company and quantity available. Because the wines are all selected by each of the judges, the standard of wine quality must surely be higher than any competition of this size in the world”. Bob Campbell MW.