Gisborne grapes keep on fizzing

Lion North Island head winemaker Jane de Witt with another champion bubbles winner. Picture supplied

Gisborne can once again lay claim to being the home of New Zealand bubbles, with Gisborne grapes behind another champion tipple in the New World Wine awards.

Gisborne-grown Verde Brut took the Champion Bubbles prize, alongside New Zealand’s most awarded bubbles, Lindauer, which featured two sparkling wines in the Top 50.

Lindauer’s Verde Brut has made the Top 50 four years running (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and this year claimed the Champion Bubbles title.

Lindauer, which is owned by brewing giant Lion, also took out the Champion Bubbles title in the four previous years.

Lion’s North Island head wine-maker Jane de Witt said she was thrilled with the win.

“Gisborne makes consistently great sparkling grapes and particularly chardonnay which is the predominant grape variety in this blend.”

Jane has now taken home the champion bubbles trophy five times in a row, all using Gisborne grapes (in 2021 they were mixed with grapes from Hawke’s Bay).

Only the best of the best from the 1200-plus entries made the cut, said co-chair of judges Sam Kim.

“Our independent panel of wine experts tasted and scored the entries over three full days, first awarding the gold medal winners, then tasting through these wines again and again to determine the 50 best for this list.

“All the judging was blind, meaning we didn’t know the brand or price point of any entry, so consumers can trust that every winning wine really measures up.” All the top 50 winning wines are priced under $25 and are in New World stores and online now.