Saint Clair Family Estate has celebrated its recent success at the Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition.
The gold is flowing at Saint Clair Family Estate with recent success at the Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition. The team at Saint Clair are pleased to announce that the 2021 Saint Clair James Sinclair Cabernet Merlot took out a gold medal and trophy win for ‘Best in Class – Champion Red Blends’ at the 2024 competition.
The Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition (ARWC) sponsored by The George Hotel consists of two panels of judges, hosting Sam Kim (Chairman of Judges), Simon Nunns, Paul Harré, Sam Smail, Terry Copeland, Petter Evans and Mitchell Ryder. The 2024 competition was recorded as the largest number of participants in 10 years with over 392 wines entered from around Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The Saint Clair James Sinclair Cabernet Merlot 2021 is a full bodied and complex wine sourced from the renowned Gimblett Gravels wine growing district in the Hawke’s Bay region. This wine has dark fruit, tobacco and vanilla aromas with a concentrated and toasty palate.
“We are thrilled to receive news of success at the Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition. It’s always a buzz and a great boost for the team to get recognition for Cabernet Merlot blends – it’s a challenging varietal blend to get to get right, so we’re very pleased with this award.”
Saint Clair also won a range of other gold award-winning wines from the show, including the Saint Clair Pioneer Block 10 Twin Hills Chardonnay 2021, an elegant French barrique fermented Chardonnay, with flavours of ripe citrus, roasted hazelnut and toasted oak.
The Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Bull Block Gruner Veltliner 2021 also won a gold medal, known for its rich and sophisticated taste with a fusion of stone fruit and spice. The palate is focused and well-structured with a lingering fresh finish.
Also among its gold award winning wines was the Saint Clair Barrique Sauvignon Blanc 2021, which was of limited release and aged in seasoned oak barriques.
The Saint Clair Sparkling Rose NV also won gold, known for its delicious sparkling taste with a rich round palate incorporating flavours of crushed strawberries with a fine, lively bubble.
Saint Clair Senior Winemaker Stewart Maclennan takes a lot of pride in producing high- quality wines and the 2021 vintage was no different.
“It's a thrill to see these wines and varietals from the ‘21 season receiving these accolades. The ‘21 season was phenomenal quality, and these wines feature the character of the season particularly well, speaking to the calibre of the regional wine competition.”
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