Te Awanga's Clearview Estate Winery has taken three of the spots on Metro magazine's inaugural 100 Wines for Summer list, delighting winemaker Barry Riwai.
"To get not one or two but three wines is exciting," he said.
"We are punching above our weight for the size of our winery soachieving three per cent of the total list is a great result. It's a testament to our unique micro-climate on the coast at Te Awanga."
The nine-strong judging panel led by Master of Wine (MW) Paul Tudor were tasked with identifying the top 100 wines for summer occasions such as barbecues, picnics, long lunches and dinner parties.
They chose Clearview's Cape Kidnappers Merlot Malbec 2009, Enigma 2009 and Te Awanga Chardonnay 2011 as worthy of the list.
It was the second time this year the Cape Kidnappers Merlot Malbec had attracted the attention of judging panels - it picked up one of two gold medals for the winery at the Royal Easter Show.
Clearview also tasted success at the inaugural Spiegelau International Wine Competition in July with its Old Olive Block 2009 taking out the Cabernet Sauvignon Trophy.
It was the first time in Metro magazine's 30-year history that it presented a wine tasting.
The judging panel, with extensive experience in wine tasting, wine competitions and restaurants, spent two days in blind tastings and worked their way through many hundreds of wines to come up with the list.
