Central Otago winery Akarua has been awarded the prestigious Joy Lake Memorial Championship Perpetual Trophy for Best Wine of Competition for its 2017 RUA Pinot Noir at the Sydney International Wine Competition.
Akarua’s 2017 RUA Pinot Noir was awarded three trophies in industry-renowned competition: Best Pinot Noir of Competition, Best Red Table Wine and the coveted top prize, Best Wine of Competition.
With over 1700 wines assessed by 13 judges including five Masters of Wine, in the 39th year of the event this accolade is a significant achievement. The Sydney International is the only wine show that judges all finalists matched with appropriate food.
Akarua head winemaker Andrew Keenleyside was "humbled" by the news.
“2017 was a challenging, unsettled year which demanded an extremely high level of attention to detail from our vineyard and winery teams,” he said. “Everyone went above the call of duty to over-deliver on quality, it was a super-human effort and I am humbled by this result.”
