(L-R: Tim Severne Rockburn’s General Manager and Brad Horn from Winetime London at the Hallgarten UK Annual Tasting in London, January 2023)
(New Zealand): The 2023 London Wine Competition Winners have recently been announced, with Central Otago’s very own Rockburn Wines being awarded two Gold Medals for their Rockburn Pinot Noir 2021 (92 Points) and Rockburn Nine Barrels Pinot Noir 2021 (91 Points). This prestigious award solidifies Rockburn’s world-class offering as one of the best and further validates the calibre of Pinot Noir created by the Rockburn team.
Held in London on March 20th and 21st 2023, 1,300 wines from 32 countries were submitted. The top wines were judged by an array of Master Sommeliers and Masters of Wine who awarded a total of 10 Gold Medals to New Zealand wines, with Rockburn proudly picking up two of the Gold Medals.
Rockburn Winemaker, Malcolm Rees-Francis says, “To be recognised on a world stage such as the London Wine Competition is a huge honour. It is a privilege to be awarded alongside some of the best wines in the world. The calibre of wines being submitted year-on-year is incredibly strong. This only pushes us each season to ensure we are crafting and delivering the very best of Central Otago to consumers all over the globe.
Rockburn General Manager Tim Severne adds; “The London Wine Competition is something we strive for at Rockburn and to be acknowledged for two of our Pinot Noir’s is a credit to our winemaker Malcolm and our teams, both in vineyard and in the winery. We look forward to seeing what our next vintage will provide.”
The London Wine Competition is designed to recognise and reward the wines that truly resonate with the consumer, covering three key areas; quality, value for money and appearance. As the Competition itself outlines, “…For any wine to brand to earn its place on a retailer’s shelf or a restaurant’s wine list – and then vitally stay there – they need to be marketable and consumer-driven and not just produced in the general hope it can find enough people willing to sell and buy it.”
