18 October 2012
High fives for GIMBLETT GRAVELS red wines
Wines from five different vintages win gold at Hawke’s Bay A Mercedes Benz Wine Awards
GIMBLETT GRAVELS red wines won 6 trophies and 13 gold medals last Tuesday night, including the coveted prizes of
Champion and Reserve Champion Wines of Show.
For the eighth time in the award’s twelve year history, Syrah was the star, with Esk Valley Winemaker’s Reserve Gimblett
Gravels Syrah 2010 adjudged the Champion Wine of Show.
Reserve Champion Wine of Show was awarded to Sacred Hill’s Merlot predominant blend, Brokenstone 2010.
Both wines won their respective class trophies with Te Awa’s Cabernet Merlot 2009 winning the Cabernet predominant class
and Best Export Wine of Show trophies.
Indeed, GIMBLETT GRAVELS wines from five different vintages, 2007-2011 inclusive, were awarded 13 of the 17 gold medals
awarded to red wines.
Deputy Chairman of Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, Tony Bish of Sacred Hill Winery, attended the awards and
commented:
“For GIMBLETT GRAVELS wines to win Champion Wine and Reserve Champion Wine of Show is an outstanding achievement and
confirms our members’ long held confidence that 2010 vintage is one of the finest to date.
"Equally satisfying was that wines from five different vintages, going back to 2007, were considered by the
international panel of judges to merit gold medals. These results help to cement the fact that our unique soils and
mesoclimate create wines that are of consistently high quality, year to year, and that such wines have the ability to be
enjoyed young or with cellaring. These two attributes are acknowledged hallmarks of all the most sought after wines
around the world.”
GIMBLETT GRAVELS is a fully registered trademark owned by the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, established in
2001. Only members of the Association are entitled to brand their qualifying wines as GIMBLETT GRAVELS where such wines
comprise a minimum of 95% fruit grown on specific free-draining gravel soils deposited by the Ngaruroro River in inland
Hawke’s Bay.
The combination of these deeply layered gravels - of which there are only 800hectares (2000 acres) by area - and warm
maritime climate has served to produce blended (Bordeaux varietal) red and Syrah wines that have achieved critical
acclaim in New Zealand and internationally.
ENDS