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4 December 2008

International Acclaim for Hawke's Bay Red Wines Again and Again

Hawke’s Bay red wines are winning again and again at international wine competitions around the world.  In the Tri-Nations Wine Challenge at the end of November Hawke’s Bay wines took first place in the Merlot, Syrah, Other Red Blends and Varieties classes and the iconic Te Mata Coleraine is the only New Zealand wine listed in the International Wine Challenge Library Collection announced this week.

Hawke’s Bay also took second place in the Merlot, Syrah and Other Red Varieties classes.  Wineries Villa Maria, Craggy Range, Esk Valley Estate, Newton Forrest, Crossroads, CJ Pask and Mills Reef all took Highly Commended Gold Medals for their wines at this invitation only competition chaired by judges James Halliday of Australia, Bob Campbell of New Zealand and Michael Fridjhon of South Africa.  These judges choose just seven wines in each of the 15 classes totaling just 315 wines in the competition making these awards unique.  These results continue to champion Hawke’s Bay as New Zealand’s ultra premium red wine producing region following wins in the same competition classes in 2007 and 2006. 

Hot on the heels of the Tri-Nations Wine Challenge, Te Mata Estate’s Coleraine 1998 is the only New Zealand wine featured in the International Wine Challenge Library Collection, the first and only competition to demonstrate the merits of premium wines and their cellaring potential.  Scoring 95 points out of 100 is ranked 6th out of 57 wines and is the highest scoring New World wine. 

Results for individual wines can be found on www.trinationswine.com and www.iwsc.net .

For further information contact:

Lyn Bevin
Executive Officer
Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc.
Phone 876 3418 or 027 621 7891

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