Central Otago vineyard strikes gold in wine awards

The hotly anticipated 2019 New World Wine Awards results are out.

Asmall family vineyard in Central Otago has big plans after striking gold at one of the country’s top wine competitions. Lucienne van der Wal of Immigrant’s Vineyard says she and her husband Roland were chuffed when they heard their pinot noir had been awarded a gold medal and named in the Top 50 at the 2019 New World Wine Awards.

The awards were judged by a panel of 17 independent wine experts, who sniffed, swirled, sipped, tasted and debated 1274 different wines, benchmarking them against what the perfect wine should be and awarding gold medals to worthy entrants.

Of those, the judges then chose the topranked gold medal wines to feature in the New World Wine Awards Top 50 – including the Ruru Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018 crafted by Lucienne and Roland at their Alexandra vineyard.

“Winning this award and the exposure it brings means the world to us,” says Lucienne. “It will put our wine firmly on the New Zealand map.”

Anyone looking to find Immigrant’s Vineyard on a map will need to look way down under – located between the Central Otago towns of Alexandra and Clyde, not far from the site of New Zealand’s biggest ever gold strike, it is one of the southernmost vineyards in the world.

Purchased in 2013 by this industrious couple, who came to New Zealand from the Netherlands in 1986 with only the packs on their backs, the vineyard has until now sold mainly in the South Island, but this win will open doors throughout New Zealand.

“We work the vineyard with the two of us, from pruning to harvest, sales, marketing and administration,” says Lucienne. “From September to April we work in the vineyard to grow the grapes. In June, July and August we prune and do maintenance. This leaves May to go around the country trying to sell wine.”

The low-lying 19ha vineyard’s location overlooking the Clutha River presents unique challenges, including very sandy soil, low rainfall, heavy frosts and extremes of temperature, but the couple turn this to their advantage, coaxing good-quality, fruitforward wines from their pinot noir, pinot gris, gewurztraminer and chardonnay grapes.

The award-winning Ruru Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018 (named for New Zealand’s native owl) retails for less under $25 a bottle and offers a feminine, fruity style and rich, dark cherry flavours.

Meanwhile, Lucienne and Roland continue to pursue their passion, and are channelling their energies into building a tasting room at their Airport Road vineyard so they can showcase their wines to cyclists riding past on the Central Otago Rail Trail. The 2019 New World Wine Awards Top 50 features stalwart wineries you know and love, as well as under-the-radar wineries and new varieties to explore.

For a full list of winners visit www.newworld.co.nz/wineawards

To try the winning Immigrant’s Vineyard Ruru Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018 and get the best range at the best prices, visit your local New World store.