3 Rieslings, 3 Gold Medals, 1 Winery

NELSON RIESLING SHINES AT NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL WINE SHOW
Three gold medals at this year's New Zealand International Wine Show was a pleasing result for the team at Seifried Estate - however to then learn that all three were for Riesling, one of the winery's original varieties, was the cherry on top.

Seifried Winemakers Collection Sweet Agnes Riesling 2011, Seifried Nelson Riesling 2011, and Old Coach Road Riesling 2011 were all awarded gold at the New Zealand International Wine Show. Under the guiding eye of Bob Campbell MW, Chairman of Judges, a total of 2,080 wines across 16 categories were tasted.

For 38 years, the Seifried family have been growing Riesling in their Nelson vineyards. As a variety which Austrian born Hermann Seifried has always had a love for, it was brilliant to get this type of recognition.

Accounting for nine hectares of the Estate' vineyards, it is grown on two different vineyard sites - on the heavy clay loam of Redwood Valley and the stony soils of Brightwater. Fruit from both vineyards were used in these gold medal wines.

Head winemaker Chris Seifried says "the winemaking for all three wines really was a team effort. The 2011 harvest arrived earlier than usual, and at full steam, it was short and intense, with a small amount of rain near the end. Fortunately the fruit came in clean and with beautifully balanced fruit acid, making the job in the winery more a matter of retaining what we already had, rather than trying to work our magic. To receive such recognition for a variety we enjoy so much ourselves gives the team a great buzz of knowing all the hard work has paid off."

In the market there has been a definite swing back toward Riesling over recent years as a refreshing alternative, and one that "couldn't have come at a better time" says sales manager Anna Seifried. "With all three of these brands, widely available around the country we are hopeful that even more consumers will venture back to the world of Riesling to experience why it's such an interesting and versatile variety."

With Nelson shortly to host the Nelson First XV Wine Competition, a tri-nation tasting where the top 15 aromatics from the US, Italy and Nelson will go head to head. These latest results confirm once again that Nelson really is up there with the best of them, with the right climate and soils, as well as talent to produce wines of the highest calibre.

But the good news doesn't stop there, with an additional two silvers awarded to Seifried at the same competition for the Seifried Nelson Pinot Noir 2010 and the latest addition to the Seifried selection, the Seifried Nelson Grüner Veltliner 2011.

For further information please contact Anna Seifried, 0064 3 544 5599 or anna@seifried.co.nz