More grapeness as Bay wins awards

Hawke's Bay may have come up short on the sporting front during the weekend but the region has emerged with a string of wine-growing honours - and there was a magpie involved.

Villa Maria's Bay vineyards scooped six trophies at the 2011 Bragato Wine Awards while Squawking Magpie picked up one.

The seven trophies made the Bay the most successful winegrowing region at the event - edging out Marlborough which took six awards, while Nelson and Waiheke Island wineries picked up one each.

One of Villa Maria's six trophies was also the ultimate prize all winemakers had sought - the Champion Wine of the Show.

It went to the Single Vineyard Keltern Chardonnay 2010, grown at the Keltern Vineyard which is managed by Mark Dixon. It was one of three trophies for the Keltern Chardonnay which also picked up Champion Chardonnay and the Sustainability Trophy.

Phil Holden, who runs Villa Maria's Omahu Vineyard, also picked up three trophies.

The awards, held each year as part of the Romeo Bragato conference, are New Zealand's only grapegrower awards. "Keltern is an exceptional vineyard for Chardonnay and this is the third consecutive year that wine grown at this vineyard has received a trophy at Bragato," Villa Maria Group Viticulturist Ollie Powrie said.

"Mark pays meticulous attention to detail and maintaining low yields that produce wine of this quality. He is passionate about incorporating sustainable management, allowing the site to express its unique characters."

Mr Powrie added that 2010 was proving to be an "exceptional" vintage across the range of Villa Maria Chardonnay.

"The cooler season in 2010 resulted in a long ripening period, providing increased flavour concentration and balance in the resulting wine."

Villa Maria also picked up trophies for its Hawke's Bay-grown Viognier, Cabernet Sauvignon and Reserve Grenache.

Squawking Magpie won the Merlot Trophy with its Nest Merlot 2008.

The winery also grabbed a couple of gold medals for the Nest Merlot and its 2009 Stoned Crow Syrah - giving vineyard owner Gavin Yortt something to crow about.

"Winning gold medals at the Bragato awards was brilliant news for us," he said.

Being able to add some extra heavy metal to the trophy cabinet capped off a huge month for the Bay's most awarded boutique wine company as "The Nest" also scooped a gold medal at the New Zealand International Wine Show.