Real Kiwi wine battler Te Awa on the gold rise after years of uncertainty

Boutique Hawke’s Bay winery has won two gold medals at the Royal Easter Show wine awards in Auckland.



Is this the first time Te Awa has won two gold medals at the prestigious event which has attracted 276 wineries and 1517 wines.



Te Awa general manager and winemaker Ant Mackenzie said today the result was hugely significant for a winery that until recently had been at the crossroads for some years.



``We won gold for our 2007 Left Field merlot and 2007 Te Awa cabernet merlot. The Royal Easter Show is the first 2010 wine event and the second most important show after Air NZ Wine Awards. It’s always a surprise when you do well and great for our brand.



``What this illustrates is that Te Awa is making good red wine with different winemakers and that the quality is inherent in the vineyard. The fact that two wines have done well is a big deal.’’



Both wines were blended and bottled by Mackenzie who won a fistful of awards as Spy Valley’s chief winemaker in Marlborough for many years but last year took on the challenge at the 50ha Te Awa block which had been producing 25,000 cases a year.



Mackenzie is in the process of cutting production back to 10,000 to 15,000 cases a year and pitch the brand at the top end of the market to beat the global wine glut.



Te Awa is owned by Julian Robertson, who also owns the Dry River label and the Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers luxury resorts.



From being an exposed gravelly old Hawke’s Bay river bed to making one of the best wines in New Zealand, Te Awa is clearly back on the national stage again after several years of uncertainty, as endorsed by the Royal Easter Show judges.



Te Awa also won gold last November for its chardonnay at the Air NZ Wine Awards in Christchurch. Their recent string of successes typifies the real Kiwi battler image from almost struggling to clawing back up and joining the elite band of wineries.



Mackenzie said the awards were helping turn their winery around and he was aiming for Te Awa to become one of the best boutique producers in country.



Established in 1992 by the Lawson family, Te Awa is sited on the renowned Gimblett Gravels premium winegrowing region. The land, once an older river bed area, used to be used for grazing years ago and was part of the original Longlands Station.



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see: www.teawa.com