A Sauvignon Blanc from India has made history by winning the country's first International Trophy, according to results from the Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2014, released online today.
Claiming the International Trophy for best Sauvignon Blanc, one of only 15 awarded in this year’s competition was the Grover Zampa, Art Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2014 from Nandi Hills, Karnataka in India.
Made by India’s largest exporter of wine, Grover Zampa’s success is the culmination of 22 years work, 9 of which has been with wine consultant Michel Rolland.
Despite being unchallenged in its category, judges were unanimous in their decision to bestow the top accolade, reflecting India’s burgeoning wine scene.
In another first, winning the Regional Trophy for Asia Sweet Fortified was Hatten’s Pino de Bali NV from Bali in Indonesia. The winning dessert wine, from the country’s first winery, is made by Australian winemaker James Kalleske and produced in limited quantities of 5,000 bottles a year.
Highlighting the wines’ success in her DAWA co-chair report, Jeannie Cho Lee MW called it the ‘surprise of the competition’.
‘History was made when these two wines were not just awarded gold medals but trophies for their outstanding quality’, she said.
Both wines beat stiff competition from a total of 2,500 wines entered, of which 2,227 were medal winners, comprising 15 International, 30 Regional Trophies, 106 Golds and 509 Silvers, 1095 Bronzes and 517 Commendeds.
Wines were once again judged blind, in the third year of the competition, which took place in Hong Kong in September. Wines were tasted by a total of 42 judges, drawn predominantly from across Asia, and overseen by competition co-chairs Steven Spurrier and Jeannie Cho Lee MW.
Vice-chairs were Gerard Basset MS MW OBE, Decanter columnist Andrew Jefford, Shinya Tasaki and CH’NG Poh Tiong.
Australia led the way with a total of 536 wine entries, winning 4 Internationals, 2 Regionals and 28 Golds. Italy followed with 481, 318 from France (including 85 from Bordeaux and 75 from Champagne) and 223 from Spain, from which one International, six Regionals and 9 Golds were given.
New World wines also featured strongly; 180 from New Zealand, 165 from Chile and 143 from Argentina, as were wines from the usually under-represented Central and Eastern Europe and Middle East (88 wines); of which all 22 entered by Israel won medals.
The competition also saw 28 Chinese wines tasted, 22 from India and 21 from Thailand, the emergence of which was highlighted by Steven Spurrier in his co-chair report: ‘Ten years ago, such countries would have barely featured at the Decanter World Wine Awards, so to find them here in Hong Kong was very satisfying.’
Jeannie Cho Lee MW says ‘consumers have a lot to look forward to with the announcement of this year’s DAWA results’ and recommends consumers to ‘look beyond just the gold medal and trophy winners’.
‘With our rigorous criteria and dedicated team of talented judges, the results of 2014 DAWA winners will be a useful filter for quality wines in a sea of choices,’ she said.
There are a number of opportunities for consumers to taste DAWA winning wines at various promotional events over the coming months. These include a tasting of New World winning wines at the Wine & Dine Festival in Hong Kong on 2 November, a tasting of 80 medal-winning wines on 25 November with leading wine retailer Watson’s Wine in Hong Kong, as well as 16 Gold and Trophy winners on show at Decanter’s inaugural Fine Wine Encounter in Shanghai on 29 November.
DAWA wines will also be showcased in a number of retailers, restaurants and hotels in Hong Kong, Singapore and Mainland China when the official tasting series launches on 1 December.
See the full DAWA 2014 results
Written by Decanter
