Sauvignon blanc whitewash in wine awards

New Zealand's most widely produced varietal wine was the star local performer at this year's annual Liquorland Top 100 wine competition, said one of the competition's main judges.

The best New Zealand wines in this year's competition were sauvignon blancs, said Jeff Clarke from winemaker Allied Domecq New Zealand, but the best were the fresh 2005 sauvignon blancs rather than older versions.

The results of the competition were announced this month at a gala dinner in Auckland.

A sauvignon blanc took the champion wine of the show award, and there were 10 sauvignon blancs among the top 100.

Clarke, who judged some of the 1500 wines entered in this year's competition at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington in August, attributed the high quality of the 2005 sauvignon blancs to the cool weather in early and mid summer.

"It resulted in show-off wines with strong herbaceous characters and good concentration of flavour," Clarke said.

When he and the other 12 senior judges and eight associates tasted the 2004 and 2005 sauvignon blancs alongside each other, they found the 2005s were superior.

"We tried to be open minded to the older wines but the developed flavours of the 2004 sauvignon blancs generally did not stand out alongside the new whites."

And while Mr Clarke said it was encouraging to see a gold medal go to viognier, which many wine makers around the country have dubbed the next big thing, he added that the best were yet to come.

"We need time for our grapevines to get older before we will see wines that show the big round qualities of viognier strongly."

Chief judge Brent Marris from Wither Hills winery said that the overall quality of the 1500 wines entered this year was high.

Of the 15 gold medals awarded to shiraz, only three came from New Zealand but of the five gold medals awarded to pinot noir, all were local wines. Four of the five gold medal pinot noirs came from Marlborough and the other from Central Otago. 

OVERALL WINNERS:

* Champion wine of the show: 2005 Astrolabe Marlborough sauvignon blanc
* Champion Winery: Waipara Hills Wine Estate (North Canterbury).

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY TROPHIES:

* Sauvignon Blanc: Astrolabe Marlborough 2005
* Chardonnay: Gunn Estate Skeetfield 2004
* Riesling: West Brook 2004
* Gewurtztraminer: Waipara Hills Marlborough 2004
* Pinot Gris: Waipara Hills Marlborough 2005
* Specified White: Zilzie Viognier 2004
* Sweet Wine: Waimea Bolitho Reserve Noble Chardonnay 2003
* Champagne or Sparkling: Lanson Gold Label Brut 1996
* Cabernet Sauvignon Predominant: Villa Maria Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2002
* Merlot Predominant: Esk Valley Reserve Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
* Shiraz Predominant: Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2003
* Pinot Noir: Waipara Hills Simmonds Vineyard 2003
* Specified Red: Rosemount GSM 2001
* Fortified: Morris Old Premium Rutherglen Muscat