Hawke's Bay wine punches above weight on world stage

A Hawke's Bay wine that sells for about one thirty-fifth of the top-ranked Mouton Rothschild was voted third at an international wine event - stunning many participants.

The decision delighted the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association.

At the Hong Kong event, which drew 27 leading wine media and trade judging participants, eight wines produced from Gimblett Gravels were rolled out against eight wines from France's prestigious Bordeaux region for a blind tasting.

While there was no great surprise that the $1500 a bottle Mouton Rothschild took top spot, followed by the $1000 a bottle Haut-Brion, there were stunned glances and reactions when it was announced that third spot had been taken by Mission Estate Jewelstone Cabernet Merlot - which retails for $39.

As well, 12 of the 27 experts selected a wine from Gimblett Gravels as their preferred choice.

Hong Kong wine media representative Ronny Lau said it was obvious Gimblett Gravels winemakers were doing a world-class job.

He said while there was a substantial price difference between Bordeaux and Gimblett Gravels wines there was very little difference in quality.

The most expensive Bordeaux was the Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Paulliac at $2500, while the priciest Gimblett Gravels wine was the Craggy Range Sophia at $70.

Chairman of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, Nick Aleksich, was delighted with the results.

"The tasting was a compelling means to demonstrate, against a highly respected line-up of benchmark Bordelaise wines, the very high standard achieved by Gimblett Gravels in only 10 years since the association was formed."

He added he believed the quality would continue to "soar even higher" as the region benefited from increased vine age and further fine tune winemaking to best express its unique terroir.

Gimblett Gravels wines featured were Alluviale, Babich The Patriarch, Craggy Range Sophia, Kidnapper Cliffs Ariki, Mills Reef Elspeth Cabernet Sauvignon, Mission Estate Jewelstone Cabernet Merlot, Trinity Hill The Gimblett and Vidal Reserve Series Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot.