Canterbury Team Wins NZ National Wine Tasting Competition

The NZ National Wine Tasting Competition Final was a tightly contested race for the top score. With 8 wines and 40 questions, the top 5 slots rotated regularly with the Canterbury Team (Photo attached) of CP Lin, Ashley Stewart, Tony Dale and Michael Ormandy winning by 964 points or just one question. Our Bubble of 4 in the OPEN category came 2nd with team members Allister Mora, Silvia Rueckschnat, Dave Anderson and Robyn Lansdaal. In 3rd place were the Hawkes Bay team of Sue Fox-Warren, Yvonne Lorkin, Nick Stewart and Hannes Sohnge.

Celia Hay, chair of New Zealand Sommeliers and Wine Professionals Association comments.

“This is the first time that our association has run a wine tasting competition and we are delighted to see the interest around New Zealand which included 12 teams competing in Martinborough.

We are selecting wines from well-known regions that have recognisable styles so that people who regularly taste wine should have a reasonable chance to identify the wines that we pour. The wines are different at each competition.

These days we use a digital app to present the questions and the teams of 4 use a mobile phone to ‘tap’ their answers.

It’s fun and provides a unique environment to test wine knowledge. We will continue to offer the competition each year.

The New Zealand Sommeliers and Wine Professionals Association is a non-profit registered society supporting people working in wine and hospitality in New Zealand. It is a member of ASI Association of Sommeliers International who run regular competitions around the world.

White wines tasted

• Badenhorst 'Secateurs' Chenin Blanc 2020 - Swartland, South Africa
• Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Marlborough, NZ
• Hospice de Colmar Riesling 2016 - Alsace, France
• Villa Maria Ihumātao Chardonnay 2018, Auckland, NZ

Red wines
 

• Dominique Piron, Fleurie 2019, Beaujolais, France
• Giesen Clayvin Syrah 2019, Marlborough, NZ
• Hans Herzog, Spirit of Marlborough 2015, NZ
• Peter Lehmann, The Barossan Shiraz, 2018, Barossa, Australia

1st Place: Canterbury

Ashley Stewart

CP Lin

Tony Dale

Michael Ormandy

2nd Place: Auckland OPEN

Robyn Lansdaal

Dave Anderson

Silvia Rueckschnat

Allister Mora

3rd Place: Hawkes Bay

Sue Fox-Warren

Yvonne Lorkin

Nick Stewart

Hannes Sohnge

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