Yealands won the award for its 2019 Yealands Estate Single Block L5 Sauvignon Blanc – the only Sauvignon Blanc to be awarded a Best in Show medal in the 2020 competition.
It’s also the only Best in Show to go to a New Zealand wine at this year’s awards, which saw 116 judges taste and evaluate 16,518 wines from 56 countries.
Yealands chief Winemaker Natalie Christensen said she was “thrilled” to be recognised, with only 50 Best in Show trophies awarded in the competition.
“This was my favourite Sauvignon Blanc that we made in 2019, and it is exciting to hear that this wine was enjoyed by the judges,” she said.
“The fruit comes from one of our most coastal blocks on the property, and really speaks of our coastal home. Looking forward to celebrating this fantastic win with the team!”
The DWWA is now in its 17th year and is the largest wine competition in the world. This year’s competition was in doubt due to COVID-19 restrictions, but after much planning the DWWA was able to proceed safely.
Every wine entered was tasted blind and in flights against its peers, organised by country, region, colour, grape, style, vintage and price. The wines were first awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold medal, with the Gold medals then reorganised and tasted again with the best awarded a Platinum trophy.
The Platinum winners were then tasted one final time by the three co-chairs to be assessed for the top accolade: ‘Best in Show’.
