Nelson winery Waimea Estates has won Gold medals for their Waimea Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Waimea Classic Riesling 2013 in their respective classes at the 2014 New Zealand International Wine Show.

Ben Bolitho, General Manager and Viticulturist at Waimea Estates is thrilled the company has been recognised with two Golds at New Zealand’s largest wine awards. “Our vineyards consistently produce small crops of excellent Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling with many past vintages recognised with gold medals and trophies. Our 2014 Sauvignon Blanc has already won a Gold Medal in the Bragato Wine Awards – celebrating vineyard excellence just two weeks ago, and is one of the best yet. It was also awarded Five Stars by Sam Kim’s Wine Orbit so that makes it a 100% entry hit rate so far!”, he says with a wink. “The Waimea Classic Riesling has always had a beautiful purity of fruit and aromatic lift from a great vineyard, in a great season,” says Ben. 

Waimea Estates is delighted that once again its wines have hit the headlines. The results of the 2014 Bragato Wine Awards were announced last night with Waimea Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Spinyback Riesling 2013 both taking Pure Gold Medals. Only those wines conforming to sustainability accreditation can be awarded ‘Pure Gold'. Spinyback Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Spinyback Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Spinyback Pinot Noir 2013, Waimea Trev’s Red 2013, Waimea Pinot Gris 2014 and Waimea Gewurztraminer 2013 were all awarded medals as well.

419 New Zealand wines were recently awarded medals at 31^st annual International Wine Challenge in London, and Waimea Estates has collected 12 of those – from 12 wines entered!

The wine competition season hasn’t even started yet, the 2014 grapes are still rolling into the winery and Nelson winery Waimea Estates is already gathering the accolades.

Winestate Magazine has just announced the results of its latest round of tastings and Waimea has taken 11 out of 40 places in their “Top 40 Best Value Buys”. In the magazines’ words, “These wines have been recommended by our Winestate Magazine judging panel as being the Best Value in Australia and New Zealand retailing less than NZ$25.” Waimea’s successful entries were:

Like a lot of wineries around the world, harvest time means very long hours.

I have been trawling through some images this morning and came across this one of Trevor & our friend Kano from Japan at Jacobs River in South Westland. 

Once again Waimea Estates is delighted to announce further success of their star performers – this time at the 2014 Sydney International Wine Competition.

Waimea Estates is delighted to announce further success of their star performers - this time at the 2013 Air New Zealand Wine Awards. The aromatics classes consisting of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Viognier and Albariño shone in this year's competition, bagging a total of 25 gold medals.

The Air NZ Wine Awards are recgonised around the world and viewed as New Zealand's most important National Wine Competition. Waimea's  Classic Riesling 2013 and Spinyback Riesling 2013 were both awarded Pure Gold Medals by the organisers last night. The term "Pure Gold" refers to the fact that these wines are certified as fully sustainable and since the 2010 vintage both Waimea's winery and vineyards have complied to these internationally recognised standards.

Waimea's Winemaker Trudy Sheild is "chuffed" with these results. "The Nelson region grows beautiful fruit in the aromatic varieties, the winery crew and I are very proud of the two Rieslings this year- they have beena favorite in the winery as soon as the parcels of fruit arrived and throughout the process."

Pure Silver medals were awarded to the Waimea Gewurztraminer, and Waimea's - Spinyback Pinot Gris and Grüner Veltliner. These successes are across a broad range of styles and Waimea is proud to be recognised as one of the best aromatic winemakers in New Zealand. Waimea has now gathered well over 800 medals across 9 wine styles. It shows the strength and consistency of the Nelson region to produce award-winning wines across the varietal range.

Chair of Judges Michael Brajkovich MW said New Zealand winemakers are producing world-class wines across an exciting and diverse range of varieties. "The bar is always being raised in the Air New Zealand Wine Awards and this year is no exception," he said.

"The wines in this competition seem to improve year on year and this year there were some truly outstanding entries. It's a good reflection of the evolution of the New Zealand wine sector."

This year's competition saw 1,379 wines entered across 16 different classes. A total of 655 medals were awarded - 111 gold (with 3 Golds going to Nelson), 196 silver and 348 bronze.

This year the judging panel consisted of 26 judges including US wine writer Dan Berger and Swedish Master of Wine Madeleine Stenwreth along with 13 senior judges.

The elite gold medal and trophy winners will be announced at an awards dinner on the 23rd November in Queenstown.

For further information, photos or a full list of the Waimea awards to date, please contact:

Martin Carrington, Waimea Estates
Phone: +64 21 852 612
Email: Waimea@xtra.co.nz

The International Aromatic Wine Competition 2013 results are out and Waimea Sauvignon Blanc 2013 has been awarded GOLD! This follows on from the fabulous five Gold Medals awarded to the 2012 Waimea Sauvignon Blanc and now makes it the sixth consecutive vintage to win Gold. Only 44 Golds were awarded in this competition – which is designed to recognise that aromatic wines are often overlooked in the world of wine competitions. Silvers and Bronzes were also awarded to Waimea’s newly released Spinyback Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Spinyback Riesling 2013, Spinyback Grüner Veltliner 2013, Waimea Pinot Gris 2012, Waimea Viognier 2013 and Waimea Gewurztraminer 2013.

Waimea Estates and Seifried Estate, both from Nelson, are thrilled to reveal they have won two of the three Gold Outstanding medals awarded to New Zealand wines at the 2013 International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) with the Waimea Estates Gewürztraminer 2011 and Seifried Winemakers Collection Sweet Agnes Riesling 2013.