The Lowburn Ferry Home Block Pinot Noir Central Otago 2014 won the prestigious Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Trophy, as well as the JF Hillebrand New Zealand Champion Pinot Noir.

Chair of Judges and Master of Wine, Michael Brajkovich, said the Lowburn Ferry Home Block Pinot Noir Central Otago 2014 was one of the more complex Pinot Noir wines in this year’s competition. “This wine has lovely ripe wild cherry aromas with earthy herbal and truffle-like undertones. The palate is full-bodied with a seductively silky texture and is showing the benefit of bottle maturation.”

“Pinot Noir was undoubtedly the strongest class of wine this year, showing very high quality across a range of styles. All of the Gold Medal winning wines are outstanding, but this older example had that ‘something special’ to attract the judges’ attention in the trophy tasting.”

“When we are deciding between the Elite Gold Medal winners in contention for a trophy, the argument is no longer about quality because we already know that the wines are all outstanding. The trophies are determined by the stylistic preferences of the senior judges who vote accordingly,” Brajkovich added.

The second highest accolade of the evening, the O-I New Zealand Reserve Wine of the Show Trophy, went to the Brancott Estate Letter Series "O" Chardonnay Marlborough 2015. This exceptional Chardonnay also won the Rabobank New Zealand Champion Chardonnay Trophy.

Air New Zealand Chief Operating Officer, Bruce Parton, says the airline is proud to have sponsored the Wine Awards for thirty years. “We have worked hard over the past three decades to champion the success of New Zealand’s wine industry right around the globe.”

“It’s been great to see entries from wineries across the country this year and we’d like to congratulate all the medal and trophy winners.”

As well as the 18 trophies awarded, 39 Elite Gold Medals were announced at the dinner, which was emceed by Samantha Hayes and Jessie Mulligan. This year's competition saw over 1,400 wines entered.