On the Grapevine April

Worthy Winner

Not only was Deutz Marlborough Cuvée Blanc de Blancs 2006 the winner of the Sparkling Wine Trophy at this year’s Royal Easter Show Wine Awards. Over the past year this wine has made a clean sweep of gold medals at The Air New Zealand Wine Awards, Liquorland Top 100, Tri-Nations Wine Challenge and Sydney International Wine Competition.
Made from 100% Chardonnay grapes this wine is a real stunner and one of my favourite sparklers. For all the winners from the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards go to wineshow

Hot Reds Hawkes Bay Tasting

This is one of the best red wine tasting experiences available without actually travelling to Hawkes Bay. Twenty six top wineries present their wines in an intimate tasting that allows the public to meet and chat to the winemakers. There are only 200 tickets available for each venue and last year they sold out fast.
Tasting and venues are Christchurch Tuesday 15th June in the Christchurch Town Hall. Wellington Wednesday 16th June in the Wellington Town Hall and Auckland 17th June at the Rendezvous Hotel Auckland City, tickets are $38 and this gives you a wine glass, free tasting of all wines and a full catalogue of all wines and wineries. Tickets are available through Ticketek.

Air New Zealand Wine Awards To Auckland

After a long absence the Air New Zealand Wine Awards dinner will this year be held at the Sky City Convention Centre Auckland, on Saturday 20th November. For a number of years the dinner has been held in either Wellington, Christchurch of one of our wine regions. Both Hawkes Bay and Blenheim have hosted well attended awards dinners in their regions.

Judging, which is always held in Auckland will take place between the 1st and 3rd of November, to receive results direct to your email go to airnewzealandwineawards and sign up.

Villa Maria Achieves CEMARS Certification

Never heard of CEMARS well it stands for Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme. Over a 10 month period Villa Maria undertook a rigorous auditing process to measure its greenhouse gas emissions profile against international ISO standards. The company has also pledged a commitment to managing its carbon footprint in respect of the operational activities of the business excluding overseas retail and distribution.
The program developed in New Zealand, and run by Landcare Research provides a framework for measuring and reporting the steps taken to reduce carbon footprint and greenhouse gases.
Villa Maria is one on nine businesses nationwide to have achieved CEMARS certification, the only other winery to achieve CEMARS is Palliser Estate of Martinborough. For more about Villa Maria