Strong showing for 2011 New World Wine Awards

Media release

14 July 2011

Strong showing for 2011 New World Wine Awards

The judging for New Zealand's premier consumer wine show will begin in Wellington on Tuesday 19 July as 13 internationally experienced judges step up to find the nation's best affordable drops. The New World Wine Awards have again attracted a strong response from New Zealand and international winemakers, with a record 1,058 wines entered from 181 vineyards.

Blind tasting for the awards will take place over two days, using an internationally recognised points system that benchmarks each wine against what a perfect wine should be like, rather than simply competing against each other.

"The beauty of these awards is that they are so strongly consumer-focused. The judging process is extremely robust, which means shoppers can have absolute confidence that a wine which has been awarded a medal is of an exceptional quality," says Jim Harré, Chair of the 2011 New World Wine Awards judging panel.

Wines entered into the competition must retail for below $25 a bottle, and there must be at least 500 cases of each wine available for sale.

The independent judging panel will award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, and convene to select the trophy winners for overall Champion Red, Champion White, and Champion Sparkling. The top 50 wines from the full array of medal-winners will be showcased online, in the New World Wine Awards booklet and in 135 New World stores nationwide.

In addition to the distinction of an award, the awards guarantee winning winemakers national distribution and extensive brand exposure, driving sustained sales.

"The promise of national distribution is a real point of difference for the awards, and is a major drawcard for winemakers. It means that success at the New World Wine Awards is much more closely linked to bottom-line results. For consumers it guarantees that the wines which truly stand out are also readily available," says Nick Hern, CEO of Eurovintage whose Dashwood 2010 Sauvignon Blanc was the Top White at last year's awards.

The award winners will be announced to the public in September 2011.

ENDS

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