From my perspective, it will be an interesting challenge for New Zealand Winegrowers to combine the two shows. Having judged at both competitions, I have always felt that the Air New Zealand Wine Awards was about overall excellence. However, Bragato sought out excellence in grapegrowing and site expression. These to me are two different objectives. In seeking overall excellence, the factors of vineyard source and expression are quite secondary to the judging process. For Bragato, in judging, I and no doubt many of the other judges were seeking individuality of character. I’ve always thought, along with others, that the Bragato Wine Awards was the vehicle to ultimately define ‘terroir’ in New Zealand.