Waimea Estates has seen further success of one of their star aromatic performers, Waimea Gewurztraminer 2016 – this time at the 2018 Sydney International Wine Competition.
The Sydney International Wine Competition is unique amongst wine shows in the fact that wines are judged twice – once in a formal traditional judging atmosphere, and only those reaching Gold Medal status are then judged with a dish created by the competition’s in-house chef. In this case the Aromatic Category wines were judged with Pan-fried Snapper with coconut milk, capers and cucumber. This is to gauge the wine’s food-matching ability – with the top wines in that section then qualifying for the unique Blue-Gold (or double Gold) Medal. The 100 wines which score the highest aggregate points in both judgings are then included in the Top 100 Wines of the Show. Trophy winners from the Sydney International Wine Competition will be announced in late February.
Waimea Gewurztraminer 2016 was awarded a Blue-Gold Award and then went on to win a place in the Top 100. This award entitles the bottle to wear the Competition’s trademark double-disc, gold-foil “BLUE-GOLD/TOP1OO - Judged with Food” bottle medallion. TOP 1OO Wines carry the distinction of being placed amongst the highest pointed 5 percent of wines from the thirteen Style Categories of the 2018 Competition. Waimea Classic Riesling 2016 was awarded a Finalist Award and was thus in the highest pointed 20 percent of the entries.
“Following in the footsteps of last year’s Gold Medals for our Waimea Grüner Veltliner, Spinyback Pinot Gris and Spinyback Riesling in this same show, this further reinforces the strength that Waimea and the Nelson region has with the aromatic grape varieties,” said new general manager of Waimea, Blair Gibbs. “I’m very proud of the vineyard and winery team for once again proving that we have it takes to shine on the global wine stage!”
