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Winner Details

New World: Other White Varietals & Blends


2015: Gold 4 Silver 3 Bronze 2 Commended 5
2014: Gold 1 Silver 8 Bronze 3 Commended 5

This used to be the place you came for weirdo blends. You know, that classic Riesling/Marsanne/Chardonnay/Colombard combination. Frequently with tons of oak. Sometimes it worked. Usually, it didn’t.

But this year we saw a lot less of that – at least in the medal winners. And clearly, some of the experiments (and a general easing back on the barrel character) are paying off. Four Golds here is comfortably this section’s best-ever performance.


Star Performer

South Africa enhanced its reputation for experimentation with almost half of this category’s medal winners.

From The Tasting Teams


‘The Z’Ivo is a real sommelier’s food wine. It would need to be hand-sold. If you put it by the glass people will hate it, but it will be great with artichokes or tomatoes.’ Laurent Richet MS, Restaurant Sat Bains

‘Here you are buying into experimentation, what people are doing in the vineyard and winery, providing a real point of difference. So these wines need to stand out on the list for these things.’ Hamish Anderson, The Tate Group

‘If you take them in isolation and look at the fruit and structure, there were some lovely wines and good value – and they give you the chance to offer something different to curious customers.’
Laura Rhys MS, team leader

Award winners

Found 14 wines

New World: Other White Varietals & Blends

Emiliana, Signos de Origen, Chardonnay/Rousanne/Viognier/Marsanne 2013, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Gold medal winner

A wonderfully distinctive blend. 'Very intense on the nose, with quince, pear, apricot, and the white pepper brings the fruit to life. Yellow spice, bright acidity. Knockout!, ' said Morgan VanderKamer of Stanley's Dublin. ‘A well-made wine in its style, this has lots of new oak but well controlled, with ripe fruits and a fresh finish,’ began Enikő Heidenwolf of Bread Street Kitchen. ‘Melon and honey notes with an oily palate of spiced apple, honey and lanolin, with a crisp apple finish,’ added team leader Tom Forrest. Pair with pork or Vietnamese dishes.

£8.45 Boutinot

Boekenhoutskloof, The Wolftrap White 2014, Western Cape, South Africa

Gold medal winner

A blend of Viognier and Chenin Blanc with around 10% Grenache Blanc thrown in, this offers outstanding value, hence rapid elevation to Gold. While Rebecca Coates of Hakkasan London enjoyed its ‘stone fruit, peach and honey’ characters, Neil Bruce of Studio Alto highlighted its 'quite delicate, flinty minerality and limes, and dry, crisp, tangy, zesty, racy finish', and Richard Brooks of Caroline Catering noted: 'Attractive fruity aromas, lots of juicy fruit on the palate,' adding: 'It's a big, intense wine on the mid-palate, with warmth and development. A big wine at this price-point – love it!'

£5.52 New Generation Wines

Z'IVO, Pinot Blanc 2011, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA

Gold medal winner

Gold for a wine that delighted most but confused a few. 'Honey, beeswax with a herbal twist on the nose, there's lots happening,' said The Tate Group's Hamish Anderson. ‘Marzipan sponge cake aromas with lemon butter notes on the palate,’ said team leader Angela Reddin, with Laurent Richet MS of Restaurant Sat Bains adding: ‘Some seashell aromas on an expressive nose, fresh straw on a savoury palate, funky in a good way. Lots of personality.’ That's for sure! What do you think?

£18.50 Whirly Wine

d'Arenberg, The Money Spider, Roussanne 2013, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia

Gold medal winner

Last year a Silver for the previous vintage, this year a Gold – well done d'Arenberg! ‘Aromas of bright tropical fruit, yellow flowers and peach, with lovely weight on the palate, good perfume and acidity, delicate and elegant,’ said impressed team leader Lara Rhys MS, with Neil Bruce of Studio Alto also enjoying its ‘restrained, crisp, delicate, spritzy balance’. Complex enough to cope with sushi and wasabi.

£10.40 Enotria&Coe

African Wines, Just Nuisance, Chenin Blanc/Semillon 2014, Paarl, South Africa

Silver medal winner

‘Bright tropical fruit, good acidity, with lime and lime flowers on the palate. A crowd-pleaser for the price,’ said team leader Laura Rhys MS, with Neil Bruce of Studio Alto noting: ‘Restrained, gently spicy with crisp, tangy limes.' Morgan VanderKamer of Stanley's Dublin said: 'With its grassy notes alongside the tropical, guava hints, this has a good balance.'

£5.84 Enotria&Coe

De Morgenzon, Maestro White 2013, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Silver medal winner

'Another fascinating South African blend – Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Chardonnay and Viognier – this is deliciously classy but still young,' said team leader Angela Reddin, adding: 'Baked grapefruit with honey and orchard flower aromas.' ‘Richer palate with floral blossom, acacia notes and spice, toasty hints on a fresh, lemon/lime finish,’ said fellow team leader Tom Forrest.

£12.88 Majestic Commercial

Cederberg, Bukettraube 2014, Cederberg, South Africa

Silver medal winner

‘Fresh, ripe and spicy with yellow fruit aromas, rich, juicy palate with fleshy plums and gentle spice notes,’ said Neil Bruce of Studio Alto about this wine, made with the rare Bukettraube grape – less than 100ha are left in the world. The Gilbert Scott’s Riccardo Guzzardo noted: ‘White table grape freshness, crisp acidity with a little sweetness on the finish.’

£8.50 Bancroft Wines

Peace Wine Estate, Swan Hill, Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio 2013, Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia

Bronze medal winner

‘Soft, appley nose, hints of white flowers, very gentle aromas. Lovely stone fruit in the mouth, with medium acidity but good body and length,' said team leader Angela Reddin. ‘Ripe pear and mango with rounded oily texture,’ added Ram Chhetri of Bread Street Kitchen.

£5.40 Bottle Green

Esk Valley, Verdelho 2014, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Bronze medal winner

‘Green apple and white pepper on the nose, with a riper fruit palate, elegant and balanced, fruity with good acidity. Good by the glass,’ said Laurent Richet MS of Restaurant Sat Bains. ‘Fresh, sharp minerality for easy drinking,’ added Ram Chhetri of Bread Street Kitchen.

£7.49 Hatch Mansfield

Kiwi-Oeno, Blank Canvas, Grüner Veltliner 2013, Marlborough , New Zealand

Commended medal winner

£11.40 Liberty Wines

Tinpot Hut, McKee Vineyard, Grüner Veltliner 2013, Marlborough , New Zealand

Commended medal winner

£11.40 Liberty Wines

Vuurberg, White 2013, Western Cape, South Africa

Commended medal winner

£11.50 Boutinot

Alvi's Drift, CVC 2011, Worcester, South Africa

Commended medal winner

£9.32 Sogrape UK

Sijnn, White 2011, Malagas, Breede River, South Africa

Commended medal winner

£13.92 Bibendum