Yvonne Lorkin: Congrats to us at the International Wine Challenge

Two wines made from fruit grown in the Gimblett Gravels scooped five trophies between them The International Wine Challenge.

Sometimes we Kiwis are so self-effacing and humble that it makes me want to punch our national psyche in the face. And a press release that came across my desk this week made me want to punch our wine industry in the face. Why? Because it was about two wineries from one region achieving something absolutely enormous, something amazing and something that deserved to be trumpeted out across the oceans and yet the press release was so bloody understated that I almost missed it.

Here's the background. The International Wine Challenge (IWC) is the world's most prestigious and meticulously judged wine competition. It was held earlier this month and 10,000 wines were entered from every wine region across the globe. It's a monumental achievement to earn a medal, let alone a gold or a trophy.

However two wines, crafted from fruit grown in Hawke's Bay's own little shingle El Dorado, the Gimblett Gravels, took out no fewer than five trophies between them. Five.

The Pask Declaration Chardonnay 2012 scooped "Top Hawke's Bay Chardonnay", "Top New Zealand Chardonnay" and "Top New Zealand White Wine" - amazing! The Crossroads Winemakers Collection Syrah 2012 scooped "Best New Zealand Syrah" and "Best New Zealand Red Wine" - double amazing!

Double amazing because not only is this a wake-up call for the world that New Zealand isn't just a sea of sauvignon and pinot noir, but also that these two wines came from the same special patch of ground and from a vintage that pundits were only too prepared to write off.

But the headline was a ho-hum "Gimblett Gravels wines declared NZ's Best Red and White Wines at the International Wine Challenge 2014". In black, boring font, not even an exclamation point. Followed by "Two Gimblett Gravels wines have taken top honours at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London, demonstrating the remarkable quality of both red and white varieties from the District."

The last time I heard the word "remarkable" to describe anything actually remarkable was in The Luminaries. Who are we talking to? Tweedy toffs in carpet-walled gentlemen's clubs? I was left not only yawning, but thinking why wasn't this used as a "wahoo moment"?

Where was the opportunity for those winemakers to really unleash their joy and thrill and pride for what they've just achieved? Why do we have to be so damn polite about how we express our excitement? What is so wrong with saying we've achieved something incredible? and we feel like the duck's nuts right now? I'm as hype-weary as the next hack, but when I see wine industry news that really does deserve to be news given less headline potential than "meltdown as Colin Mathura-Jeffree attends his own event". (Footnote - separate press releases were received from Crossroads PR and Pask that were a little more attention-grabbing, which is good news.)

So with that said, here are some absolutely newsworthy, shout-out-loud sensational sips I've tried this week.

Cloudy Bay Marlborough Chardonnay 2012, $39

I love this wine! I tried to find fault with it, but really I'm having a Spinal Tap moment where if I could "turn it up to 11" I would. Let's start with the intoxicating, grilled grapefruit, pineapple, peach melba and brioche aromas. Gorgeous. Then there's a delicious wave of freshly squeezed stonefruit, cinnamon on toast and a seam of sensationally balanced acidity on the palate. Beautifully tuned, a chardonnay with real presence, punch and personality, I can't wait to taste it again after another three years in the cellar. cloudybay.co.nz

Lawson's Dry Hills 'The Pioneer' Pinot Noir 2010, $36

This little bit of magic from Marlborough made by Marcus Wright and his talented team has seductive, spiced cherry and potpourri aromas and a palate cloaked in fruit wood smoke and slippery, velvety berry and cocoa characters.

The wine even has a dusting of dried rosemary and violets and I it's jaw-dropping stuff from every angle. lawsonsdryhills.co.nz

Wyndham Estate Bin 888 Cabernet Merlot, $12

This is one of those classic, rumpty, robust Aussie reds that ticks all the boxes if you're after a good quaffer for an autumn night.

Packed with plum, blackberry, Christmas cake spices and all manner of chocolate-covered liquorice goodness. Not a huge wine, but a very soft, plump, generous sip. Widely available.

Aronui Nelson Chardonnay 2013, $20

Crafted by the clever team at Tohu Wines, one of New Zealand's 100 per cent Maori-owned and operated wine companies, this chardonnay is bright, vibrant and lipsmackingly fresh - with a peachy concentration and tropical weight. It's got a tangy, toasty seam of oak running through it, and I really like this wine - it'd be fantastic with classic roast chook with sage and onion stuffing. aronuiwines.co.nz

Penfold's RWT Barossa Shiraz 2011, $199

Yes, the price is extreme, but so is the wine.

Dense, impenetrable and near-saturated magenta-black colour, this has an exquisite "carpenter's workshop" aroma, cedar, sweat-soaked sawdust and freshly ploughed earth.

Opulent plum and dark berry flavours, black pepper, liquorice and even a layer of soy, cocoa and black bean.

The mouth feel has opulence and finesse with saucy succulence and a long finish of coughdrop, tar and smoke.

Faultless.

* RWT was first released in 1997 - and the computer at Penfolds generated a code for the trial batches beginning with the letters RWT, which stood for Red Wine Trial. glengarrywines.co.nz

A correction:

In a previous column regarding Selaks wines, a photo caption referred to "the then Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon in 1971".

In 1971 Robert Muldoon was not yet Prime Minister or knighted.

I apologise for the error.