New Zealand

Thriving as a commercial winery means a lot of hard work and the ability to make good decisions based on the grapes harvested each year. Every year the weather is different and vineyard managing may change. The brix level of the grape harvest may differ. So a winemaker must work with all of these challenges and continue to make quality wines that consumers will want to buy time and again. How many great vintages can you make over ten years?

In New Zealand, the  Marlborough Wine Show will attempt to discover the best producer over a ten year period by issuing a new award category in 2013. The Marlborough Museum Legacy Award will emphasize and reward the ability of a winemaker/producer to make three quality vintages in ten years. Among the details for the wine entry: three vintages of one wine within a ten year period and a minimum gap of two years between each wine.

According to the Marlborough Wine Show website, “The Marlborough Museum Legacy Award  is for three outstanding vintages. This will be awarded to the wine producer with the highest scores for three vintages within a ten year period. This can be for any wine style.”

The Marlborough region of New Zealand has numerous wineries both large and boutique-size. We visited and wrote articles about several of these wineries in 2010 and look forward to discovering the winner of this award.

Cheers!

Kathy