Cam Duke and Paul Dawick show off the award winning merlot. Photo / Rebecca Mauger
Katikati's Leveret & Mills Reef Winery have received a double gold and title of New Zealand Wine of the Year in an international competition.
Their Gimblett Gravels Reserve Merlot 2020 took the top spot at the 2022 China Wine and Spirits Award which is considered to be the biggest wine
and spirits competition in Hong Kong and China.
Wine and spirits were entered from more than 55 countries, covering all price levels and tasted blind. A CWSA medal is considered to be a powerful endorsement of quality and suitability for the Chinese market, with the judges representing top buyers, distributors, retailers and sommeliers in Hong Kong and China, says sales and marketing director Fiona MacDiarmid.
"It's a wine we knew would have great appeal and presence,'' says Katikati's chief winemaker Paul Dawick of the winning merlot. ''You get that minerality of the dirt and more of the dark fruit spectrum — which is strong in plum and blueberry flavours as opposed to the red fruit.''
"It is a huge outcome for this newly released wine.''
