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25 March 2009

London tasting for top ten Hawke’s Bay wines

Ten Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux-style wines will be star attractions at the New Zealand Winegrowers stand at the prestigious London International Wine Fair to be held in May.

The wines were all rated highly by British wine expert Neal Martin when he was in New Zealand early in 2008 and as many were no longer available in the market, this would be a rare and therefore sought after opportunity for trade and consumer visitors to taste what Hawke’s Bay is best at, says Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers’ Inc. Executive Officer, Lyn Bevin.

Martin, a respected wine writer for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate described one of the wines being featured in London, as “an out-standing Bordeaux-inspired wine that would out-inspire many a Bordeaux”.  He rated the 10 wines between 90 and 94 points (out of 100).  All are from vintages 2002 to 2006.

“In today’s market, Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux style wines offer an ultra premium alternative at a value all wine lovers can enjoy,” says Ms Bevin. 

Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s oldest wine producing region, the second largest, and the premier red wine producing region for the country with over 80 percent of the national vintage of Cabernet Merlot and Syrah. 

Local winegrowers describe their wines as having a purity of new world fruit coupled with old world complexity and elegance.

Hawke’s Bay red wines are winning again and again at international wine competitions around the world and this prowess and growing reputation would see the Hawke’s Bay stand popular and very busy, says Ms Bevin.

Recent successes include the Tri-Nations Wine Challenge at the end of November 2008, where Hawke’s Bay wines took first place in the Merlot, Syrah, Other Red Blends and Varieties classes, and second in all but one of these. 

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. 

Following this success, 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, this wine is ranked sixth out of 57 wines and is the highest scoring New World wine. 

For further information contact:

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

Background

Results for individual wines can be found on www.trinationswine.com and www.iwsc.net
List of Hawke’s Bay wines to be featured in London with Neal Martin ratings as shown:
2005 Church Road “TOM” – 94 points
2006 Craggy Range “Sophia” – 93 points
2002 Esk Valley “The Terraces” – 92 + points
2007 Te Mata “Awatea” Cabernet Merlot – 92 points
2005 CJ Pask “Declaration” Cabernet Merlot Malbec – 92 points
2002 Te Awa “Zone 10” Cabernet Sauvignon – 93 points
2005 Matariki “Quintology” – 91 points
2004 Matua Valley “Ararimu” Merlot – 91 points
2006 Newton Forrest “Cornerstone” Cabernet Merlot – 91 points
2006 Villa Maria Reserve Merlot Cabernet – 90 points

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