The tri-nations of wine competition has delivered a heart-warming result for anyone disappointed with the performance of our All Blacks.

The Sydney-based wine competition which compares the best wines from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa saw New Zealand coming home in first place with eight trophies, 11 double-gold medals and 10 gold medals. 

This year New Zealand wines took home the White Wine of Show trophy, as well as the sparkling, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, merlot, Bordeaux blends and dessert wines trophies.

New Zealand’s representative on the judging panel and Master of Wine Bob Campbell said winning the Challenge is a significant achievement for New Zealand, since the competition has been dominated by Australian wines each year since its beginning seven years ago.

“The quality of New Zealand wines entered this year really demonstrates the ongoing evolution of wine quality in New Zealand,” Mr Campbell said.

“The results reflect the continuing strength of New Zealand sauvignon blanc in spite of a challenging 2008 vintage, and the quality of our pinot noir, syrah and merlot. The excellent red wine vintage experienced in Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago in 2007 are also evident in this year’s results.”

Bob said it’s particularly significant that a New Zealand wine has again won the Shiraz/Syrah category, which it has won more often that Australia despite Shiraz/Syrah being Australia’s signature varietal wine.

“Australia has around 45,000 hectares of shiraz/syrah planted, compared with around 500 hectares planted in New Zealand, so it’s great that we can compete with Australia in this category,” Mr Campbell said. 

Wines entered in the Tri Nations Wine Challenge were picked by a selector from each country as one of their top wines for each class.  Wineries were then invited to send samples to Sydney to be blind-tasted by a panel of respected wine judges from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. 

Alongside Bob Campbell on this year’s judging panel was Michael Fridjhon, South Africa’s most respected wine judge, commentator and liquor industry strategist, and Huon Hooke, one of Australia’s most respected wine writers with more than 20 years experience.

New Zealand Winegrowers global marketing director, Chris Yorke said it’s great to see New Zealand coming out on top of the Tri Nations Wine Challenge for the first time this year.

“The results of this year’s competition show that New Zealand wines are continuing to develop in terms of quality and are beginning to perform exceptionally across a wide range of varietal wines.”

For further information visit: www.trinationswine.com

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