The nose knows at Wine Awards

Hundreds of wines will be spat, chewed and mulled over by a panel of 13 expert judges at the annual New World Wine Awards.

About 1325 wines have been entered in the three-day competition at Wellington's Westpac Stadium which ends today.

The chair of the judging panel, Jim Harre, said this show gave an opportunity for experts to get a glimpse of this year's production.

He said there were some "pretty amazing wines" entered.

There was "a little bit" of hesitation among commentators at the start of this year's season due to the large sizes of the crops, Harre said.

"The normal leap is, big crop you're going to have dilute wines. But that is not what we are seeing at all.

"These are really well-balanced wines with stacks and stacks of flavour."

Consumer favourites sauvignon blanc and pinot gris have so far had "lovely fruit flavour and amazing elegance", Harre said.

The wines must retail for $25 or less with at least 5000 bottles for sale. Winners are announced in October.