Delightful dozen Bay wines to go global

Master of Wine Bob Campbell at work selecting his finest Top 12 Hawke's Bay wines which will go international. Photo/Paul Taylor

For leading New Zealand Master of Wine Bob Campbell it was a fine way to start the week.

A Monday at the desk - a long curving desk upon which stood more than 50 bagged bottles of Hawke's Bay finest examples of wine across three varieties from the much-lauded 2014 vintage.

There were 19 merlot cabernet blends, 19 syrahs and 16 chardonnays all lined up for the blind tasting to create the Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Association's inaugural Hawke's Bay Vintage Collection which will embrace the top 12 as adjudged by Mr Campbell.

That collection will then form the vintage profile of wines representing Hawke's Bay which will be sent around the globe, along with Mr Campbell's notes and scores, to key wine opinion leaders.

"This marks a very significant milestone as this is the very first Hawke's Bay Vintage Collection which all Hawke's Bay wine producers were invited to enter," association executive officer Melisa Beight said.

"It has been on our agenda in terms of achieving a massive strategic goal so it is great to pick it up.

"We believe it will help increase our profile globally and help us to achieve our strategic objective of being recognised as one of the world's great wine regions - no mean feat."

It was truly a testing day for Mr Campbell who is a wine judge, journalist and educator and only the second wine writer to become a Master of Wine.

His early flight to Napier from Auckland was disrupted by fog but it cleared and he made it to his lined-up assignment in the early afternoon.

A long day but very well worth it, Mr Campbell said.

"The overall standard was very good and the syrah was especially strong," he said, adding that the real challenge came from having to decide which ones not to include.

"This is a great initiative because it will remind people, especially those offshore, just how very good we are at making fine wines," Mr Campbell said.

"And they will be impressed with them - absolutely no question about that."

He said he was not aware of any other regions creating such a specific vintage package and believed it would raise a lot of interest and reinforce the Bay's winemaking reputation internationally.

"Hawke's Bay has the history, the wine trails and the fine reds - and it is the best chardonnay region."

Ms Beight said the vintage collection selection would now be repeated annually and would continue to be judged by Mr Gordon to maintain consistency.

The tasting took place at Paritua Vineyards and Winery and at the end of the day, after the selections were made and the top 12 decided, not even Mr Campbell knew which wineries they came from.

Ms Beight said the individual wineries all needed to be contacted first and after all the paperwork had been done the delightful dozen would be announced in a few days.