Hawke’s Bay wine hailed as champion

Despite being the largest wineproducing region in the country, Marlborough has not scooped up a top prize at this year’s New Zealand Wine Awards.

The competition, which saw more than 1200 wines entered, hailed a Villa Maria Syrah from Hawke’s Bay as ‘‘champion’’ wine of the year.

The eight top trophies, announced at the awards dinner in Blenheim on Saturday night, went to wines made in Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Central Otago and the Waipara Valley.

Chair of Judges Warren Gibson said ‘‘organic grapegrowing’’ and a ‘‘single vineyard focus’’ had been rewarded in this year’s competition.

According to the 2019 New Zealand Winegrowers survey, Marlborough remains the largest producing region in the country at 26,850 hectares – 69 per cent of the country’s total producing area.

Marlborough did very well in the varietal trophies, which were announced earlier in the month, ‘‘winning significantly more than any other region’’, Gibson said.

‘‘But the eight other trophies awarded are more focused on recognising the future of our industry, which are organics, single vineyard, provenance and commercial volumes.

‘‘The reality is that other regions dominated these categories this year,’’ Gibson said.

Marlborough took out six of the 13 varietal trophies, which were announced on November 5.

It championed in its varieties of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, sweet wine and Rose.

The region won two of the top eight trophies last year, with Isabel Estate taking out the best single vineyard white wine and Dashwood winning the best open white wine.

The New Zealand Wine of the Year competition aimed to celebrate the entire New Zealand wine industry.

There was a particular lean towards vineyard excellence and regionality.

‘‘The increasing relevance of organic grape-growing and a move towards a single vineyard focus in our industry has been rewarded in this format,’’ Gibson said.