Want to try something new, and not already a member? Come on your own, grab a friend, workmate or partner and join us for our next tasting. Take a look and see who's presenting.
What a brilliant evening! Organised by Wayne and hosted by Michelle Fraser from Clearview, a wine judge in her own right, plus with an extensive knowledge of viticulture and wine making.
Due to illness and holidays, we had only 27 attend the evening, but book your diaries for next year, as this may be repeated with next year’s Gold Medal Winners!
Michelle filled the evening with knowledgeable tips about the different growing regimes, different classes of grapes, the different way grapes are treated/processed, i.e. in stainless steel or oak barrels, skins in or out; plus her sayings that kept us laughing:
ABC – Anything But Chardonnay
Pinot Gris – Puma wine, younger girls juice
Chardonnay – Cougar wine, older women’s juice
Gewurztraminer – how to says this: Girls Get Meaner
She gave us updates on what some of the bigger personalities in the Hawkes Bay area are now doing, with Gordon Russell now in retirement, until he decides what his next project will be. However, his daughters are now up and running through their new brand Three Fates.
This was an evening that was full of surprises, and to those of you who couldn’t make it, the below wines that we tasted are available from New World, The Good Wine Company, and other NZ locations.
Lindauer Special Reserve Rose NV -Gold Trophy from a female wine maker, Jan DeWitt.
2022 Leefield Station Gewurztraminer -Double Gold Trophy for Champion Gertz this is owned by the same family who own NED wines.
2022 Brancott Estate Letter Series O Chardonnay – Double Gold Trophy for Champion Chardonnay + Champion Wine of the Show again a female wine maker, Laura Kate Morgan
2021 Daisy Rock Reserve Pinot Noir – Gold Medal
2021 Esk Valley Artisanal Hawkes Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold Medal sadly Esk Valley is now more, so snap up this one if you like Bordeaux style wines.
Hosted by Michelle Fraser, Clearview Sales Manager and occasional Wine Judge
Wednesday 10th April, 8 pm Start Door Price: Members $14 / Guests $18
Please remember your tasting glasses
Immediately after the Gold Medal Winners from the New Zealand International Wine Show were announced last October, your club set out to acquire 3 bottles of 7 gold medal wines for us to taste this month. April was chosen to do this as that is a time of the year when the wine industry is busy with harvest and thus many wineries are unavailable to present to us.
The beauty of doing this immediately that the announcements were made were two-fold. It meant that the wines were still available and more importantly it also gave us an opportunity to secure 5 that were trophy wines, one of which was also the overall Champion Wine of the Show.
And to help us present these wonderful wines to you all, we have invited Clearview Sales Manager, Michelle Fraser back to help us. You may recall that last year she mentioned that she has been a wine judge but she also comes with an extensive knowledge of viticulture and wine making, so is well placed to provide background and her take on each of our wines that we will be tasting.
The wines we will be tasting are:
Lindauer Special Reserve Rose NV – Gold & Trophy for Champion NZ Sparkling Wine
2022 Leefield Station Gewurztraminer -Double Gold & Trophy for Champion Gewurztraminer
2022 Brancott Estate Letter Series O Chardonnay – Double Gold, Trophy for Champion Chardonnay plus Champion Wine of the Show
2021 Daisy Rock Reserve Pinot Noir – Gold Medal
2021 Esk Valley Artisanal Hawkes Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold Medal
2021 Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah – Double Gold, Trophy for Champion Syrah, Trophy for Champion Syrah & Predominant Blends & Trophy for Champion Commercial Red Wine
An Auckland Chardonnay and a Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot both shone at this year’s Romeo Bragato Wine Awards.
Grown by Brett Donaldson, the Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Chardonnay 2014 won the coveted Bragato Champion Wine of the Show Trophy – Champion Single Vineyard and the Bill Irwin Trophy for Champion Chardonnay.
“This Chardonnay demonstrated exceptional respect to the variety and is a shining example of what hard graft in the vineyard and soft touch in the winery can achieve. It shows wonderful expression and captures the essence of the Ihumatao vineyard. Simply stunning!,” said Chairman of Judges Ben Glover.
The Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2014, made from grapes grown on the Vidal vineyard by Phil Holden, won the Richard Smart Trophy – Champion Domaine Wine.
“High quality, perfectly ripened fruit was allowed to shine through in this expertly crafted wine. It had superb balance and respect for the fruit, providing seamless delicacy, acidity and palate weight,” said Mr Glover.
The Bragato Wine Awards are held each year as part of the New Zealand Winegrowers Romeo Bragato National Conference, and recognise the grower for viticultural excellence. The competition acknowledges that growing excellent grapes is the foundation of making wines of true quality. The Trophies were presented at the Bragato Dinner in Marlborough last night.
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Editor’s notes:
To be awarded the Bragato Champion Wine of the Show Trophy – Champion Single Vineyard Wine, a minimum of 95% of the grape juice content must come from a single vineyard.
To be awarded the Richard Smart Trophy – Champion Domaine Wine, a minimum of 85% of the grape juice content must come from a single vineyard.
Bragato Champion Wine of the Show Trophy and Champion Single Vineyard Wine
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Chardonnay 2014 Ihumatao Vineyard, Auckland Brett Donaldson
Richard Smart Trophy and Champion Domaine Wine
Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2014 Vidal Vineyard, Hawke’s Bay Phil Holden
Friedrich Wohnsiedler Trophy Winner and Champion Riesling
Maude, Mt Maude Vineyard East Block Riesling Central Otago 2016 Mt Maude Vineyard, Central Otago Dawn and Terry Wilson
Brother Cyprian Trophy Winner and Champion Pinot Gris
Aronui Pinot Gris Single Vineyard Nelson 2016 Whenua Matua Vineyard, Nelson Jonny Hiscox
Champion Gewürztraminer
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Gewürztraminer 2014 Ihumatao Vineyard, Auckland Brett Donaldson
Champion Other Red Wine
Coopers Creek SV Hawke’s Bay Malbec ‘Saint John’ 2013 Saint John Vineyard, Hawke’s Bay Wayne Morrow
Champion Sweet Wine
Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Noble Riesling Botrytis Selection 2015 Rocenvin Vineyard, Marlborough Chris Fletcher
New Zealand Wine Cellars Spence Brothers Trophy Winner and Champion Sauvignon Blanc
Tohu Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2016 Tohu Awatere Vineyard, Marlborough Mondo Kopua
Bill Irwin Trophy Winner and Champion Chardonnay
Brett Donaldson Ihumatao Vineyard, Auckland Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Chardonnay 2014
Champion Rosé
Wooing Tree Rosé Central Otago 2016 Wooing Tree Vineyard, Central Otago Geoff Bews
Mike Wolter Memorial Trophy Winner and Champion Pinot Noir
Black Quail Estate Pinot Noir Central Otago 2013 Keillor Vineyard, Central Otago Rod and Mirani Kellior
Tom McDonald Memorial Trophy Winner and Champion Classical Red Wine
Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2014 Vidal Vineyard, Hawke’s Bay Phil Holden
Alan Limmer Trophy Winner and Champion Syrah
Falcon Ridge Estate Syrah Nelson 2015 Falcon Ridge Estate, Nelson Alan J Eggers
Judges gearing up for Bragato Wine Awards 2016
(9 August 2016)
International Judge Andrea Frost
A 13 strong judging team, including international judges Andrea Frost and Nick Ryan, is gearing up to judge over 600 entries for this year’s Bragato Wine Awards in Auckland on 16 and 17 August.
Andrea Frost is an award-winning wine writer, columnist and author based in Melbourne, Australia. In 2013, Andrea was named Wine Communicator of the Year and her first book, ‘Through a Sparkling Glass, an A-Z of the Wonderland of Wine’, was awarded Best Wine Publication. In 2012 and 2013, Andrea was named Wine Business Monthly’s ‘50 Stars’ of the year.
Fellow countryman Nick Ryan is a wine writer, judge and educator based in Adelaide. Nick used the knowledge he had gained from raiding his father’s wine cellar to land a job with one of Sydney’s leading wine merchants. Realising that writing about it was easier than lifting it has led him to where he is now. Nick is a regular contributor to Men’s Style Australia and Gourmet Traveller Wine and has judged in many Australian and international wine shows.
Iinternational judge Nick Ryan
Leading the Bragato Wine Awards team is Chair of Judges Ben Glover, Group Winemaker for Accolade Wines New Zealand.
“This is always a wonderful opportunity and privilege to view, assess and reward our industry peers’ wines”, said Mr Glover. “The Bragato Wine Awards is a unique forum on the wine industry calendar that champions the grape grower, recognises the vineyard and awards viticultural excellence.”
The Bragato Wine Awards, held each year as part of the New Zealand Winegrowers Romeo Bragato National Conference, recognises that exceptional grape growing is the foundation of making wines that express true quality of place. Judging takes place on 16 and 17 August at AUT in Auckland City. The trophy winning wines will be revealed at the Bragato Dinner at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in Marlborough on 25 August.
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Judging Team: Chair of Judges – Ben Glover Judges – Rod Easthope, Helen Masters, James Millton, Helen Morrison, Simon Nunns, Barry Riwai, John Saker International Judges – Andrea Frost (Australia), Nick Ryan (Australia) Associate Judges – Lauren Swift, Liz Wheadon, Stephen Wong MW
For further information contact: Ben Glover Chair of Judges Bragato Wine Awards 029 520 8288 ben.glover@accolade-wines.co.nz
Angela Willis Manager – Global Events New Zealand Winegrowers 021 552 071 angela@nzwine.com