Golden glow for winery

Alpha Domus Winery manager Paul Ham.

The 25-year celebrations at Bridge Pa "triangle" winery Alpha Domus received a boost with the arrival of a slice of gold.

The winery was among several from Hawke's Bay which took medals and trophies at the recent Six Nations Wine Challenge and which ensured New Zealand came out on top.

Alpha Domus managing director Paul Ham said the gold for its 2013 Aviator followed up a double gold at last year's Six Nations for the 2013 Barnstormer in the shiraz category.

And the latest award made a quarter of a century of being in the winemaking business in Hawke's Bay a little more special.

"It's great that we can back up last year's win and we're very happy with the recent accolades which have added to our awards collection over the past 25 years," Mr Ham said.

Another reason to raise a class for 25 years was news that leading wine writer Bob Campbell MW had awarded Alpha Domus gold ribbon status - his highest accolade for wineries he cites on his website.

Mr Ham paid tribute to the winemaking team but also gave a geographical pat on the back to where they were producing their wines.

He said the ongoing development across the Bridge Pa landscape had sparked success as the vineyards in the triangle-shaped region had become firmly established and were now producing what he called "stunning" wines.

The area is especially renowned for its reds.