Series of surprises at annual wine awards (NZ)

Nothing in life is without surprises, wine shows included. Well, in this case not any old wine show but the most prestigious of the many held each year in this country – the Air New Zealand Wine Awards. The first of those surprises at this year’s show was, for the fourth year in a row, the dominance of Pinot Noir in the medal count. The second was the trophy-winning wine; the third the champion wine of the show; and the fourth the dismal failure of Hawke’s Bay’s much-vaunted Syrah to gain traction with the judges, writes Warren Barton in The Southland Times.