Twitter has been a-flitter with the Air New Zealand Awards today. It’s been all go following the media release announcing there was a record 107 gold medals awarded this year.
The press got a glimpse of the new winners today at a gold medal tasting. There were plenty of worthy winners and some wines that were questionable but overall it was quite pleasant to go to a tasting where the wheat has been sorted from the chaff.
The worst part of the tasting was not the wine but one mature male journalist revealing his recent intimate operations to the New Zealand Winegrower staff. I almost choked on my Riesling.
Anyway, back to the wines. Why so many Pinot gold medal winners? Well, there were plenty of entries, which helped. However senior judge and winemaker at Coopers Creek, says, ‘It’s a product of two really good vintages in 2008 and 2009.’
One nice surprise was the Villa Maria Single Vineyard Keltern Chardonnay 2007 (NZ$36.99). It’s easy to become snobby about a successful, large company but they do do some things very well. It is elegant and tight on the finish, had a lovely creamy leesy texture, nutty notes and a fresh finish.
My standout wine of the day, despite talk of the gentleman’s operation mid slurp was the 2009 Greystone Riesling from Waipara. It’s a spatlese style with green apple, citrus and violet aromas. Fresh, mouthwatering and delicious. For those of you going to the Air NZ Awards (not I), get your penguin suit on and seek this gem out.
