The medal results of the 2011 Bragato Wine Awards, judged 21-23 August have been released. 51 gold medals (9.27%) were awarded from 550 wines judged. There were 99 silver (18.00%) and 202 bronzes (36.73%), with a total of 352 medals (64.0%) awarded.
Of the gold medals, 12 were awarded to Pinot Noir (of 136 wines judged, with 7 golds for Syrah from 31 wines assessed. Chardonnay was a successful variety with 8 golds awarded from 62 wines entered. There were 3 gold medal sweet wines from a class of 11 wines, making it a successful category. Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot-based wines performed disappointingly with 4 golds from 67 and 1 gold from 31 wines judged respectively.
The Bragato Awards celebrates grapegrower excellence and the show recognises the quality of single vineyard sites, and can thus be seen as part of the process of identifying terroir. As can be expected, the shows favours growers who make a commitment to the best fruit and the results reflect this in the very even spread of golds across the different regions. Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay wines took 12 golds each, followed by Otago with 10, Nelson overperforming with 8 and the Auckland/Northland region also, taking 7. Only 2 golds went to Canterbury wines. Single vineyard specialists, Villa Maria and Vidal took 9 golds and Saint Clair 6 golds, a testament to the excellent work these companies carry out with their growers.
The highly experienced Olly Masters led the judging team of Jane Boyle, Cameron Douglas MS, Petter Evans, Ben Glover, Jim Harre, Dave McKee, Helen Morrison, James Rowan and Steve Voysey. The Competition Director was Mark Compton with Randy Weaver as the Chief Steward. Unfortunately the Bragato Awards dinner, scheduled for Saturday 27 August was cancelled, but it is assumed the trophy winners will still be announced at that time.
