Winemakers encouraged to enter wine awards that deliver tangible commercial benefits
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Mark Bowers of Rapaura Springs, the vineyard behind the 2015 New
World Wine Awards Champion Sauvignon Blanc said they saw an
immediate boost in sales of their Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.
"We enjoyed a huge boost in sales and brand awareness because
our Champion wine was in every New World throughout the country and
because of the promotional support that is wrapped around top wines
that win medals at the awards. Other wine shows just don't have the
distribution and retail network to support the award winners in the
same way," he said.
Chair of the independent judging panel, Jim Harré, said the New
World Wine Awards has grown yearon-year to become such an important
fixture on the wine calendar because of the credibility of the
awards, the benefits to winemakers, and the unique focus of this
wine show on affordability and availability of wines.
In order to be eligible for entry to the New World Wine Awards
the wines entered must retail for $25 or less and there must be at
least 5,000 bottles available for sale through New World's
supermarkets nationwide. This ensures the award-winning wines are
more accessible for wine lovers than is often the case for other
wine awards.
"The calibre of the judging panel and integrity of the judging
process are essential elements for any serious wine show, and that
is certainly the case for the New World Wine Awards," said Mr
Harré.
Chaired by Jim Harré every year since 2008, the New World Wine
Awards judging panel includes 12 other independent expert wine
judges, many of whom return to the panel each year. This year's
guest international judge is Sue Hodder, one of Australia's most
well-known winemakers and senior winemaker for Wynns Coonawarra
Estate in South Australia.
The judging panel blind taste and judge each wine using the same
internationally recognised 20-point scale as other leading wine
shows. They award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, with the best
wines in each category re-tasted to determine the Champion wine of
each varietal, plus the overall Champion Red and Champion
White.
"Wine lovers are increasingly recognising and eagerly
anticipating the results of the New World Wine Awards each year, as
reflected by how quickly some of the winning wines are snapped up,"
said Mr Harré.
Following the announcement of the 2015 New World Wine Awards
results last year, 323,000 bottles of wine, with a retail value in
excess of $4.6m, sold in the first six weeks of the promotion last
year. Some Champion wines were so popular that they sold-out within
the first 10 days.
The judging will take place over three days at Wellington's
Westpac Stadium in August, with results announced later in the
year.
Entries to the New World Wine Awards close on Friday, 24 June.
All details can be found
online.
ENDS
For more information or images, please contact: Louise Nolan 022
692 2752
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