On Saturday night in Wellington the wine industry gathered to celebrate its showcase event, the inaugural New Zealand Wine of the Year Awards.

In a glittering ceremony, Maude Pinot Noir 2017 scooped three trophies including the highly prized ‘Champion Wine of Show’. Maude Pinot Noir 2017 was also named ‘Best Pinot Noir of Show’ and ‘Best Wine from Central Otago'.

In a hugely successful night for EuroVintage’s Central Otago portfolio, Carrick’s organic programme received the ultimate endorsement making a clean sweep of both organic trophies winning ‘Best Organic White Wine’ for the Carrick Bannockburn Riesling 2017 and ‘Best Organic Red Wine’ for the Carrick Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2015.

Having received 1300 entries in its first year, The New Zealand Wine of the Year Awards is the wine industry’s new national wine competition. For many years New Zealand Wine Growers has run two wine shows, the Air New Zealand Wine Awards and the smaller Bragato Wine Awards. In 2018 these two shows have been merged to signal a new era for the New Zealand Wine Industry as it celebrates a single wine competition as the pinnacle of wine show success.