WINE OF THE YEAR Special Awards Feature 2020

THE JUDGING

BEST OF THE BEST

EACH year Winestate gathers together those wines that throughout the year have achieved a five star (gold standard) or 4 ½ stars (high silver standard) to come up with a Top 5 list across fifteen categories and ultimately a winner for each category.

Then all category winners were put together to decide a standout wine, no mean feat as they all represent different varietals and different styles. But as they say, “someone has to do it” and our expert judges always do a great job.

This year led by established senior wine show judge and regular judge, Chairman of Judges, Bill Hardy, we were also pleased to have AWRI Chief Scientist, Leigh Francis, involved again along with Master of Wine Kym Milne (who also has a Kiwi connection as former chief winemaker at Villa Maria and current consultant with Bird in Hand winery). Because of the sheer number of wines