Nelson's 1st XV of wine picked for World Cup bid

MARION VAN DIJK/The Nelson Mail Winners of Nelson's 1st XV wines,ntsG that will be represented at the international tasting in September,nte from left, Ursula Schwarzenbach and Isabelle, of Blackenbrook Vineyard, Trevor Bolitho, of Waimea Estates, Greg Day, of Kahurangi Estate, Gary Neale, of Brightwater Vineyards, Pip Battley, of Greenhough Vineyard, John Kavandagh, of Neudorf Vineyards, Anna Seifried, of Seifried Estate, Annelies Goemaere, of Kaimira Wines, Renee Schaeffer, of Woollaston Estates, and Steve Gill, of Te Mania.

Nelson's 1st XV of wine has been selected. The local wines will go up against wines from the United States and Italy in a blind taste test.

The 1st XV wine competition will be held in Nelson on September 25 during the build-up to the Rugby World Cup clash between Italy and the United States.

Wine reviewer Sam Kim, of Auckland, selected the 15 local wines from 42 entries in a blind test last month.

"It was a tough selection with a great variety of outstanding wines, but these ones stood out," he said.

"I'm absolutely thrilled and looking forward to the international competition."

Mr Kim will be back in Nelson in September to judge the 1st XV wine competition.

He will be joined on the judging panel by US wine consultant Leslie Sbrocco and Italian wine writer Riccardo Castaldi.

Australian wine critic Ralph Kyte-Powell will chair the competition.

Nelson WineArt general manager Gisela Purcell, who helped organise the event, said a committee came up with the idea "over a glass of wine" a year ago.

"I thought we would try a different take on the Rugby World Cup," she said.

"We were just trying to come up with something a bit novel."

Ms Purcell said she was inspired by the movie Bottle Shock, in which Californian wine defeated French wine in a blind taste test.

Boxes of Nelson's 1st XV wines will go on sale later this year.

Greenhough assistant winemaker Pip Battley, 28, said she was proud to have two wines selected for the competition.

"We make them how we like to drink them," she said.

"Italy and the United States make some pretty good wines.

"A bit of competition is good, I think we can hold our own."

Brightwater Vineyards owner Gary Neale said he was interested to see how his pinot gris compared with the Italian equivalent.

"It is really good to know that your wine is considered to be one of the best in Nelson," he said.

Te Mania winemaker Steve Gill, 34, said aromatic wines were his winery's strength.

The international competition "should be a walkover, like the All Blacks", he said. "Nelson in general has a good reputation for wines."

The selection was made up of five rieslings, five pinot gris and five gewurztraminers.

The rieslings are Greenhough 2010, Neudorf 2010, Kahurangi 2009, Woollaston 2009 and Blackenbrook 2009.

The pinot gris are Rimu Grove 2010, Te Mania 2010, Neudorf 2010, Blackenbrook 2010 and Brightwater 2010.

The gewurztraminers are Greenhough 2009, Seifried 2010, Rimu Grove 2010, Kaimira 2010 and Waimea 2008.