Gisborne grapes make champion wine

Champion Wine: Gisborne’s Villa Maria Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2007 scooped the top prize at Bragato. A great result for grower Tony Green, the Villa Maria team and a great boost for Gisborne. - Picture by Paul Rickard Debbie Gregory

Gisborne grape grower Tony Green is still coming back down to Earth - thrilled that a Gisborne chardonnay made with grapes grown by him, has been awarded Champion Wine of Show at this year's Romeo Bragato Wine Awards.

The Villa Maria Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2007, made from grapes grown in the McDiarmid Vineyard, managed by Mr Green, won the prestigious Bragato Trophy for Champion Wine of Show, along with the Bill Irwin Trophy for Champion Chardonnay at the awards.

Chairman of judges Larry McKenna said the Villa Maria Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2007 impressed the entire judging panel with its stylistic approach.

"This is a fantastic example of a modern New Zealand chardonnay, with both complexity and depth - truly deserving of the Champion Wine of Show title," Mr McKenna said.

Bragato Wine Awards are a unique opportunity for the industry to recognise New Zealand's grape growers.

Taking the top national award that any grape grower would aspire to came as a huge surprise for Mr Green.

" I knew I had the gold medal and then, when a Hawke's Bay Villa Maria won the sustainability trophy, I thought that was the one I would have won. Then when they read out the top chardonnay, I was blown away. I thought I was out of it."

One of the judges told Mr Green the judges were particularly impressed with the Gisborne chardonnay and another said it was an excellent example and deserved the top award

"It is a really good win for Gisborne," Mr Green said.

Gisborne jumped for joy when the top award was announced.

Gisborne Winegrowers president John Clarke said it was a great result for Mr Green, the Villa Maria team and a great boost for Gisborne.

The grapes for the award-winning wine, which also won the Reserve Wine Award at the International Chardonnay Challenge, are grown on the foothill of the Gentle Annie on the highest vineyard in the region.

They were planted 12 years ago by Mr Green, who has been involved in the industry all his working life.

Mr Green says because the sloped vineyard is higher and colder, the fruit ripens slower and is among the last of the chardonnay picked in the district.

The vineyard was selected by Villa Maria as a potential reserve wine vineyard.

The wine awards come at the end of the three-day, 15th annual Romeo Bragato conference in Hawke’s Bay. The conference is New Zealand’s major technical conference for the grape growing and wine industry.