Image courtesy New Zealand Winegrowers Inc.

“In my over thirty years of tasting Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, I believe the 2024 vintage is the best I’ve ever tried,” said deputy chair and guest judge Sam Kim said after tasting the Current Vintage Sauvignon Blanc class at the 2024 Marlborough Wine Show.

“The standout variety was Sauvignon Blanc, hands-down,” said Kim. “Many wines displayed stunning fruit purity and intensity, along with a textured mouthfeel and perfectly balanced acidity. They are truly mouth-watering and deliciously satisfying,” he said.

Marlborough’s best wines of 2024 have been crowned following judging at this year’s Marlborough Wine Show, with eighty-six gold medals awarded—up from 46 last year. The total number of entries was on par with 2023, with more than 500 wines entered. Trophy winners will be revealed at the Marlborough Wine Show Celebration Long Lunch on 18 October.

Chief judge Stu Marfell said the quality of entries this year was ‘spectacular’, with both Sauvignon Blanc and Sparkling varieties making a particularly strong impression.

“We saw a big jump in the number of gold medals awarded to Sauvignon Blanc this year, particularly for the current vintage class, which received double the number of gold medals than the same category in 2023. We had been expecting some stellar Sauvignon Blancs this year after a stunning vintage, and the entries did not disappoint,” said Marfell.

Ten gold medals were awarded in the Current Vintage Chardonnay class, up from four last year, while the Pinot Gris and Riesling classes also attracted many quality entries, each seeing a jump in the number of gold medals awarded. Seven gold medals were awarded to Pinot Gris and six to Riesling, each up from three in 2023.

Emerging talent was celebrated at this year’s show, with a gold medal awarded to a student wine in the Champion Other White class.

“It was so wonderful to be able to award so many gold medals this year, and even more wonderful to see the quality of entries produced by our young and emerging winemakers, giving us confidence that Marlborough will continue to be known as one of the best wine producing regions in the world,” Marfell said.

Alongside the announcement of the 22 trophy-winning wines, this year’s Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented at the Celebration Long Lunch.

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