It is encouraging to see that our 2008 Ventifacts Block Pinot Noir is being recognised as a great wine. The San Francisco International Wine Competition, the largest, most influential international wine competition in America, is judged by a prestigious panel of nationally recognized wine experts. Judging is based on a blind, consensual procedure, ensuring that its rigor and integrity remain the nation’s most respected competition.

Many of the competitions Pinot Noir gold medals were largely awarded to 2006 & 2007 vintages so for your 2008 to be awarded a silver is a great achievement. As past experience has shown our wines only develop with time therefore we eagerly await how this wine will flourish and thoughts and comments it provokes.

As always it was heartening to see a number of other Central Otago and New Zealand wines recieving medals on the world stage.

The vintage received a blue gold medal and was named in the Top 100 wines , highlighting the best wines across the board entered in the Sydney show, before being named Best Pinot Noir at the awards ceremony on Saturday (February 28).

The 2007 Pinot Noir has previously won three gold medals at international wine shows including the 2008 UK International Wine and Spirit competition.

Drumsara founder John Matheson is excited about the latest accolade which he sees as a strong endorsement from the industry.

“Obviously this is huge for Drumsara which is still a very young label. The 2007 Pinot Noir has really surpassed our expectations and it now puts Drumsara out there with some of the much better known wineries from Central Otago, New Zealand and around the world.”

Mr Matheson says the win is not only a significant achievement for Drumsara, which is based in close proximity to Alexandra airport, but for the Otago wine industry in general.

“We are all working together to profile our wines and anything we can do individually is great for everyone collectively. The important spin off from winning an award like this is that it gives you a chance to pick up exciting, new markets.”

He says the success of the 2007 Pinot Noir reinforces the commitment of the Drumsara vineyard management staff, whose efforts have assisted talented French winemakers Anthony Worch and Marion Vialade of William Hill winery in Alexandra, to produce the award winning wine.

Mr Worch considers the 2007 Pinot Noir’s four gold medals and the coveted Best Pinot Noir trophy reflects both the quality of the Drumsara vineyard and the quality of fruit in Central Otago’s Alexandra basin.

“The Ventifacts Block site at Drumsara is elevated and receives a lot of sunshine making it ideal for producing good red wine,” he says. “We are not surprised at the success of the 2007 Pinot Noir but there has been a lot of strong competition from around the world, with lots of great pinots in the Sydney show, and we are very proud of the recognition it has got.”

Drumsara is an 8ha vineyard established in 2000. Previous medals have been awarded for the company’s 2003 Pinot Noir (2004 Bragato Wine Awards, bronze medal) and the 2004 Pinot Noir (Starwine International Wine competition, gold medal).

Each day began with the International Pinot Seminar during which attendees blind tasted their way through a flight of 8 2006 Pinots from France, Australia, America and NZ. After lunch the screwcaps were cracked and attendants were warmly invited to charge their Spiegelau Vino Grande Burgundy Glasses and savour the taste of New Zealand Pinot.

There were over 90 Pinots, representing all our wine growing regions. It was encouraging to see a solid turnout from Central Otago vineyards. We made some new friends from Grasshopper Rock and Domain Road as we shared tables and it was great to compare and contrast our wines.

We are also extremely pleased that the judges voted our Drumsara 2007 Pinot Noir Ventifacts Block as the Best of Central Otago! If you would like to order at discounted prices sign up to our wine vault wine club.

Read more about Passion for Pinot.

Liquorland Top 100

We are proud to announce that our 2007 Ventifacts Pinot Noir has received Gold in the Liquorland Top 100. Twenty one highly experienced judges from New Zealand, Australia and the UK evaluated 1,476 entries to determine the best one hundred wines available in New Zealand. We think that this is a great achievement and rewards all of the hard work on the vineyard and in the winery. This means that you should be able to find us in Liquorlands up and down the country. If you can’t see it, don’t worry just ask one of the friendly staff!

September 30 2008:The Central Otago boutique vineyard Drumsara has achieved the hat trick, winning gold medals for its 2007 Pinot Noir in three prestigious wine events, including the high profile 2008 UK International Wine and Spirit competition.

The two other gold medals were awarded at New Zealand international wine shows.

Drumsara founder John Matheson is delighted with the response to the 2007 vintage.

“This is obviously our best result yet and it is exciting to get recognition from not just one, but three different international events, which reinforces for us that we have produced something very special with the 2007 Pinot Noir. The awards will certainly raise awareness of Drumsara as an emerging boutique vineyard in both New Zealand and the UK.”

Drumsara is an eight hectare vineyard located high on a glacial outwash gravel plateau overlooking Alexandra and Clyde.

The Matheson family established the vineyard in 2000, planting the first grapes on a one hectare block. Drumsara’s first award came at the 2004 Bragato Wine Awards with a bronze medal for its 2003 Pinot Noir.

In 2006 Drumsara attracted its first international recognition when its 2004 Pinot Noir won a gold medal at the Starwine International Wine Competition in New York.

But Mr Matheson says the three 2008 gold medals are the high point and the culmination of dedication and commitment by everyone involved at Drumsara.

“We always hoped our wine would have this sort of success and we are very proud of the results.”

The gold winning 2007 Pinot Noir is produced from grapes from the vineyard’s Ventifacts Block.

“This block, which takes its name from the rock formation on the property formed thousands of years ago, produces our premium Pinot Noir fruit,” says Mr Matheson. “Our success is due to the hard yards put in by our viticulturalist, Lisa Whipp, and the rest of the team at Drumsara. The management of the vineyard is crucial in supplying the fruit, in the best condition possible, to the winemakers.”

Winemaker Dave Grant of William Hill Winery in Alexandra says the gold medals are a significant achievement for Drumsara.

“The owners and the viticulturalist are very particular and the fruit supplied to us is of consistently good quality and has an excellent concentration of flavours and colours. The nutrition of the grapes is good and during winemaking we use as little intervention as possible basically letting the fruit do the talking itself.”

He paid tribute to the talents of French winemakers on the team, Anthony Worch and Marion Vialade, who brought a high level of expertise to the winemaking process for the Drumsara vintage.

Mr Matheson says while the trio of gold medals is a milestone for the young Drumsara vineyard it is also important for the Alexandra, Clyde and Earnscleugh winegrowing region, underlining its role in Central Otago as a wine producing area.

“For a long time we have not been recognised, but with this success for Drumsara, and an increasing number of awards to other labels in our region, we are proving that we can produce top wines alongside other areas of Central Otago and New Zealand.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

WAYNE MATHESON

DRUMSARA WINES LTD

027 2247447

NZ International Wine Show

It is with great honour that we announce that our Central Otago Ventifacts Block 2007 Pinot Noir has received a gold medal at the New Zealand International Wine Show. This year 2273 wines were entered making it the largest wine competition ever held in this country and is one of the largest wine competitions in the Southern Hemisphere. The judging was chaired by Peter Cowley and Larry McKenna who presided over over 24 expert judges.

Sue Courtney, one of the judges and editor of www.wineoftheweek.com had these words to to say:

“… one of the most interesting Pinot Noirs that I tasted – Drumsara Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 [came] from the Alexandra subregion. It is a rich and earthy yet fruity style with smoky bacon and field mushroom aromas, a wild thyme infusion, concentrated red and black fruits and a beautifully balanced savoury finish. Nice touch of oak too- you know the oak is there but this is a big wine and can handle it. Besides, three days after the bottle was opened, when we enjoyed it with our dinner, it was integrating nicely. Gosh I love the screwcaps for preserving partially consumed bottles. This is a great new find. There’s an informative website too – check out www.drumsara.com.”

Her webzine for wine and food lovers is well worth bookmarking. There is a vast collection of tasting notes, restaurant reviews, and personalities.

This is not the only award that our 2007 vintage has recieved … all will be revealed in good time.