Goldwater one of best wines in world

Goldwater one of best wines in world – says London international trade fair judges

One of New Zealand’s top wine labels Goldwater has been judged one of the best wines in the world, according to the London International Wine & Spirit Fair.

Goldwater has been selected as a top 100 winery of the world to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the London International Wine and Spirit Fair. To celebrate their 25 years, the fair organisers created a new feature to showcase the best wineries from the world’s key producing countries. The judging panel comprised five respected UK wine writers. Each judge was asked to select the top white and top red wineries from each participating country which in his opinion were best in terms of quality, consistency and value for money. Goldwater’s flagship red was named one of the best reds from New Zealand. Only five New Zealand red wines were selected to represent the top 100 wineries of the world. Goldwater is in good company with Mount Difficulty, Felton Road, Craggy Range and Te Mata also selected. The success provides Goldwater with a chance to promote New Zealand wines at the wine industry’s leading annual international exhibition. Gretchen Goldwater said the London fair appointment was a ``a fantastic opportunity to showcase our wines and an honour to be selected for our reds’’.

``This is not just a vote for us but also for Waiheke Island as a red wine growing region. It is also a privilege to be selected with the other four wineries. We have previously won awards for our wines at the London fair.

The Goldwater Zell Waiheke Island Chardonnay 2000 won a previous gold medal at the competition - another vote for Waiheke,’’ Ms Goldwater said.

A wine auction in Texas last month saw a six litre Goldwater New Dog Marlborough sauvignon blanc 2003 sell for US$10,000, which was believed to be the highest price ever paid for a bottle of New Zealand wine.

The auction was part of the Houston Rodeo International Wine Competition and Auction in Texas. ``Since achieving that record price, sales have gone through the roof when people realised they can buy the wine for only $19.95 off the shelf,’’ Ms Goldwater said.

The wine company has celebrated its record 20th vintage release last month. Ms Goldwater said they aimed to become a New Zealand household name in wine. Goldwater has grown from 200 cases of cabernet sauvignon in 1982 to become one of 40 NZ wineries with sales of over 200,000 litres, from three regions – Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Waiheke Island.

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