IWSC Awards New Zealand’s Only Gold Medal Wine To Te Pa Family Vineyards 2020 Rosé

International Wine & Spirits Competition judges call te Pa 2020 Rosé ‘A perfect benchmark for the style’

te Pa Family Vineyards, the independently owned, Maori winery in Marlborough, is celebrating after winning the country’s only gold medal for wine, across all New Zealand wine categories, at the International Wine & Spirits Competition, based in the UK.

The winery’s te Pa 2020 Pinot Noir Rosé was awarded the only gold medal and the highest score (95 points) for a New Zealand wine in the fiercely competitive category.

Founder and owner of te Pa, Haysley MacDonald, who’s family lineage and history goes back to some of the earliest Maori arrivals to New Zealand, around 800 years ago, says he is delighted with the result and is proud to represent the New Zealand wine community on the world stage.

About the wine

The judges called the gold medal winning wine; “A perfect benchmark for the style. A broad and concentrated palate of sweet candied cherries, strawberries and cream, and ripe rhubarb are lifted on the palate by fresh acidity. The finish is long and lingering.”

The competition reports that a total of 1,475 medals were awarded in the IWSC Southern Hemisphere tasting results, of which 1,018 were bronze, 421 silver and 36 being awarded the prestigious gold medals. Over 250 New Zealand wines were awarded silver and bronze medals, with just the one gold medal awarded. The te Pa 2020 Rosé is just one of three Rosé wines in the world to be awarded gold in the IWSC for 2020.

Teamwork prevails in a strong but challenging 2020 vintage

te Pa’s winemaker, Sam Bennett, says of the IWSC win: “It is great to be awarded this gold medal in such a prestigious and globally recognised show. 2020 was a superb, if somewhat challenging vintage for us, due to Covid 19.

“It’s a relief the wines turned out so good after the hard work and dedication the team put into growing, harvesting and making these wines. We have been working on improvements to our Rosé programme for a couple of years now and it is fantastic to see this recognised.”

Bennett was recently named in The Drinks Business Magazine’s ‘Master Winemaker 100’ list for 2020.

Latest gold medal comes after a string of successes for te Pa

The team at te Pa - which produces its flagship te Pa range, the ultra-premium te Pa Reserve Collection, Koha, Pa Road, and Montford Estate wines - is celebrating the IWSC results after a string of recent successes for their family of brands. In 2020 so far:

• te Pa launched its te Pa Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc and Signature Series Pinot Noir into Tesco UK (the winery’s first major UK grocery listing).
• te Pa’s 2019 Sauvignon Blanc won the Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc at the 2020 Sydney International Wine Competition, the te Pa 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Oke winning gold and a spot in the Top 100, and the Pa Road Rosé winning gold in the same competition.
• te Pa’s 2019 Chardonnay won a gold medal and a place in the NZ New World Wine Awards Top 50 Wines under $25, with its 2019 te Pa Sauvignon Blanc also winning gold.
• te Pa 2019 Pinot Noir, te Pa 2019 Reserve Collection Taylor River Pinot Noir, and the Montford Estate 2019 ‘Manny’ (a bold Hawke’s Bay red blend) were all awarded gold medals at the New Zealand International Wine Show.

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