Te Pa Family Vineyards Celebrates Gold Medal Victory At 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards

The team at the Marlborough-based winery te Pa Family Vineyards is celebrating a prestigious gold medal win and a 95-point score for its flagship te Pa Sauvignon Blanc at the world’s largest and most influential wine competition – the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards.

The Decanter World Wine Awards is now in its 20th year and is growing in size and prestige. With a record-breaking 18,250 wines submitted from around the world for the tasting in the UK this year, te Pa Sauvignon Blanc has taken one of just 27 gold medals awarded to New Zealand wine entries. Judged by a panel of over 250 wine experts, including 100 international wine judges, Decanter is one of the most rigorously assessed awards shows in the world.

te Pa’s owner and founder Haysley MacDonald says that the gold medal win for the te Pa 2022 Sauvignon Blanc has come at an opportune time, with the winery focusing its efforts on re-connecting with customers around the world with travel and trade shows, and investing in the family of brands here at home in Aotearoa-New Zealand:

“Over the past few months, we’ve spent time in some of our major markets, including the USA, UK, Europe (for Prowein 2023, the largest wine trade fair in the world), and Western Australia, as well as continuing to invest and spend time in our local market here at home. The feedback we’ve received on our wines, branding, and story, has been overwhelmingly positive – and this award at the Decanter World Wine Awards gives us an extra reason to promote our wines and talk to our customers. This gold medal win is a credit to our winemaker Sam Bennett, vineyard manager Gareth Exton, and to our hard-working team. We’re looking forward to celebrating this win together.”

te Pa’s chief winemaker Sam Bennett says of the win; “To have this recognition from the highly respected panel of judges at Decanter gives us the confidence that our viticultural and winemaking programmes are heading in the right direction for what the modern wine drinker, and wine trade customers, are seeking. It’s particularly special that our flagship wine has received this acclaim, as it demonstrates our signature stylistic approach and showcases the unique characteristics of our best-performing vineyard blocks.”

Since launching the 2022 vintage late last year, the te Pa Sauvignon Blanc has already achieved strong acclaim:

• 94 Points & 5 Stars, Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
• 94 Points, Excellent, Cameron Douglas Master Sommelier
• 93 Points, 5 Stars, Candice Chow for Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
• 90 Points, James Suckling

Judging Panel’s Tasting Note:

“A steely mineral character infused with sweet fresh herbs, fleshy stone fruit and ripe gooseberry, with an elegant acid line and a lively, energetic finish.”

Availability:

te Pa 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is currently available in: Aotearoa-New Zealand, USA, Western Australia, Ireland, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Taiwan, South Korea, Denmark, Germany, Vietnam, and Cambodia. te Pa Family Vineyards also produces te Pa Signature Series (UK only), te Pa Reserve Collection, the popular Pa Road brand, Koha (USA and South Korea only), and the newer Montford Estate range. Please get in touch with the winery via mikela@tepawines.com to discuss trade listings.

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