Mega wine tasting

Let the slurping commence: judging in the 2012 Spiegelau International Wine Competition will take place in Marlborough from tomorrow until Thursday.

About 1200 wines from around the world are expected at the second annual Marlborough-based competition, after more than 1100 wines were entered last year.

The competition features judges from Australia, New Zealand and Britain.

The chief judge is Mike DeGaris, of Sydney and the judging panel includes Pernod-Ricard's London-based global director of wine Adrian Atkinson.

The event is at Blenheim's Marlborough Convention Centre.