Hawke's Bay wines picked up 23 gold medals at the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards and backed the haul up with 27 silvers.
Not unexpectedly, the Bay's winemakers were at the forefront of the reds - merlots and syrahs. All four gold medals awarded for merlot were scooped up by local vineyards.
Villa Maria bagged two with its 2009 Reserve Hawke's Bay and 2010 Reserve Gimblett Gravels, while Kim Crawford Regional Reserve 2010 and Matua Valley Single Vineyard Hawke's Bay picked up the other two.
Syrah was also dominated by Bay grapes with nine of the 13 golds going to Ash Ridge, Coopers Creek, Crossroads, Elephant Hill, Esk Valley, Matua Valley, Ngatarawa, Vidals and Villa Maria.
Chardonnay made a big resurgence at the awards with 16 golds awarded - five of them to Bay wineries Black Barn, Mission Estate, Moana Park, Vidals and Villa Maria.
Chairwoman of judges, Hawke's Bay's Kate Radburnd, said chardonnay's return to prominence was due partly to an "exceptional" vintage year in 2010, but also to New Zealand winemakers becoming more refined in their handling of the variety with greater finesse in the wines and restraint in oak influence.
"There has been better diversity of styles from fruit driven wines through to more complex barrel fermented styles."
Top gold medal winning variety with 20 was sauvignon blanc, which accounts for over 80 per cent of New Zealand's 1.1 billion dollar exports. Next in prominence was pinot noir with 19 golds, confirming the continuing growth in importance of this red variety to the New Zealand wine sector.
Ms Radburnd was also impressed with the overall standard of syrah entries, which won 13 golds.
"Syrah was a solid achiever from a small number of entries, and was notable for its overall high standard by the very small number of no-award entries."
Hawke's Bay vineyards picked up four of the 25 silvers for chardonnay, two of the 25 for sauvignon blanc, three of the six for viognier, two of the five for merlot predominant blends, three of the six for merlot, eight of the 12 syrahs, four of the six 'other' red varietals and one of the eight for rose.
Australian deputy chairman of judges Mike DeGaris was impressed by the standard of aromatic whites, especially the rieslings and gewurztraminers, but said that there was still room for improvement in the handling of pinot gris. However, he said there was a notable uplift in the standard of methode traditionnelle sparking wines which for the first time in the show's history, won six gold medals.
The prestigious trophy award winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner in Auckland on March 17.