Waimea Estate Viognier wins Champion Trophy at Romeo Bragato Awards

Added: (Mon Aug 30 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - The latest vintage of Waimea Estate's Viognier has won the Romeo Bragato Trophy for Champion Other White Wine. Trophy winners represent the highest quality wine from each varietal class judged. The trophy was presented to Trevor and Ben Bolitho at the Romeo Bragato Wine Awards dinner in Blenheim on Saturday night (28 August).

Four hundred and 58 medals were presented at this year’s Awards, comprising 56 gold, 153 silver and 249 bronze medals. There were 775 entries.

The Chairman of Judges, Olly Masters, said the standard of entries in this year's Awards was typically high, with Romeo Bragato again demonstrating its worth as an indicator of quality within the New Zealand wine industry.

"There is a very strong group of wines,” he said. “Most pleasing was the great range of styles present in all varieties, showing the care growers are taking to reflect their sites. There will be something to please all consumers."

The Romeo Bragato Awards, held each year as part of the Romeo Bragato conference, are New Zealand's only grape grower awards.

Waimea Estate also won a gold medal for its Waimea Edel 2009 – only the second vintage of this unique blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewürztraminer.

Waimea principal Trevor Bolitho said: "I'm delighted that the hard work and dedication of Ben and his vineyard team have been recognized through this outstanding accolade for our 2009 Viognier and the gold medals for both the Viognier and 2009 Edel."

“The trophy demonstrates that the Nelson growing region is ideally suited to the production of Viognier – a varietal that is becoming increasingly popular not just in New Zealand but around the world."

Plantings of Viognier in New Zealand have grown from none in 1989 to more than 140 hectares in the last growing season. Originally from France's Rhone Valley, the grape's popularity has also spread to the USA, where plantings have increased significantly in recent years.

Waimea Viognier is produced with top-quality fruit harvested from the company-owned Hope and Annabrook vineyards.. At the winery, the Viognier was gently whole bunch-pressed – to preserve the elegant floral and spice characters of the variety – and an early press cut made. After cold settling for several days, the juice was inoculated with a neutral yeast – to encourage the natural expression of the primary fruit flavours of the grapes. A smaller portion of the juice was fermented in seasoned French oak and left on the yeast lees to add further complexity.

Waimea Estate has been a consistent winner of gold medals and trophies for its wines since 1998, when its first vintage of Sauvignon Blanc (1997) won the Winestate Magazine Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc. In the last 18 months alone, Waimea has received 28 Gold Medals and 8 Trophies across 8 different grape varieties for its wines.

Both the Viognier and Edel are currently for sale in New Zealand. For further information go to www.waimeabrands.com or phone the winery directly on 03 544 6385 ext 3.