It is encouraging to see that our 2008 Ventifacts Block Pinot Noir is being recognised as a great wine. The San Francisco International Wine Competition, the largest, most influential international wine competition in America, is judged by a prestigious panel of nationally recognized wine experts. Judging is based on a blind, consensual procedure, ensuring that its rigor and integrity remain the nation’s most respected competition.

Many of the competitions Pinot Noir gold medals were largely awarded to 2006 & 2007 vintages so for your 2008 to be awarded a silver is a great achievement. As past experience has shown our wines only develop with time therefore we eagerly await how this wine will flourish and thoughts and comments it provokes.

As always it was heartening to see a number of other Central Otago and New Zealand wines recieving medals on the world stage.

Although none of us here at Drumsara have never tried a Mangosteen we were delighted when Jason Dell put forward our Pinot Gris as a match on Razor TV, Singapore.

What another great day it was for this years Clyde Wine and Food Festival! The sun was shinning, the crowds were friendly, the pinot was flowing, the food was delicious, the children were laughing and by the end of the day everyone were happy as Larry!

Enjoying the Clyde Wine and Food Festival

]]> http://drumsara.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/clyde-wine-and-food-festival-success/feed/ 0 drumsara-pinot Enjoying the Clyde Wine and Food Festival http://drumsara.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/michael-cooper-picks-up-best-pinot-trophy-sydney/ http://drumsara.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/michael-cooper-picks-up-best-pinot-trophy-sydney/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:21:28 +0000 drumsara http://drumsara.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/michael-cooper-picks-up-best-pinot-trophy-sydney/ ]]>

We would like to thank Michael Cooper, NSW Distributor for Drumsara Wines Limited, for accepting the J F Hillebrand/Air Sea Global Perpetual Trophy for “Best Pinot Noir of Competition”, in the Sydney International Wine Competition.

Michael Cooper, NSW Distributor for Drumsara Wines Limited

Central Otago boutique vineyard Drumsara has capped an outstanding run with its 2007 Pinot Noir receiving the celebrated Best Pinot Noir Trophy at the 2009 Sydney International Wine competition.

The vintage received a blue gold medal and was named in the Top 100 wines , highlighting the best wines across the board entered in the Sydney show, before being named Best Pinot Noir at the awards ceremony on Saturday (February 28).

The 2007 Pinot Noir has previously won three gold medals at international wine shows including the 2008 UK International Wine and Spirit competition.

Drumsara founder John Matheson is excited about the latest accolade which he sees as a strong endorsement from the industry.

“Obviously this is huge for Drumsara which is still a very young label. The 2007 Pinot Noir has really surpassed our expectations and it now puts Drumsara out there with some of the much better known wineries from Central Otago, New Zealand and around the world.”

Mr Matheson says the win is not only a significant achievement for Drumsara, which is based in close proximity to Alexandra airport, but for the Otago wine industry in general.

“We are all working together to profile our wines and anything we can do individually is great for everyone collectively. The important spin off from winning an award like this is that it gives you a chance to pick up exciting, new markets.”

He says the success of the 2007 Pinot Noir reinforces the commitment of the Drumsara vineyard management staff, whose efforts have assisted talented French winemakers Anthony Worch and Marion Vialade of William Hill winery in Alexandra, to produce the award winning wine.

Mr Worch considers the 2007 Pinot Noir’s four gold medals and the coveted Best Pinot Noir trophy reflects both the quality of the Drumsara vineyard and the quality of fruit in Central Otago’s Alexandra basin.

“The Ventifacts Block site at Drumsara is elevated and receives a lot of sunshine making it ideal for producing good red wine,” he says. “We are not surprised at the success of the 2007 Pinot Noir but there has been a lot of strong competition from around the world, with lots of great pinots in the Sydney show, and we are very proud of the recognition it has got.”

Drumsara is an 8ha vineyard established in 2000. Previous medals have been awarded for the company’s 2003 Pinot Noir (2004 Bragato Wine Awards, bronze medal) and the 2004 Pinot Noir (Starwine International Wine competition, gold medal).

The UK is drinking more Rose than ever before – 47% more! A recent report tells us that the stigma attached to drinking ‘pink’ may be evaporating as more rose enters the market and increase in popularity. We are hearing some great reports back from our customers and now is the perfect time to enjoy Pinot Rose, especially with friends. Served chilled  it is deliciously refreshing with distinctive hints of strawberry and cooked rhubarb on the nose and subtle sweetness.

If you are like us food is never too far from our mind so how about these ideas?

• An antipasto platters with cold cut meats like ham, salami and pate.
• Summer time barbecues.
• For something different, but successful: use the wine to make a jelly, setting it with some gelatin and layering it in a trifle with your favourite berries, sponge and custard.

The quickest way to lay your hands on a bottle is to check with our retailers or order from our website.

Don’t fight the pink … embrace it!

We are extremely grateful for another top international award to be bestowed on our 2007 Ventifacts Pinot Noir. Being placed in the Top 100 – Blue Gold is a great result as there were more than 3,000 entrants from around the world. What’s even more exciting is that food wine matching is a key component in the judging process. We constantly strive to produce food friendly wines and this is a sign that we are on the right track!

If you were watching Sunrise on Friday 31st of October then you would have seen our 2007 Pinot Noir. If not … here is the video.

Winestate Magazine is Australis oldest wine publication. The Nov/Dec issue has 291 Pinots and the Drumsara 2005 Pinot Noir was rated 4 stars. Here is what they had to say:

Smells sweet and smoky and tastes like a fresh rhubarb pie. Some very zippy acidity and reasonable length of fine tannins.

You can also download this page from here.

We have always believed that drinking red wine is good for your health so it was no surprise to us when we read “Grapes And Grape Extracts May Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk.” The moral of the story … more delicious Central Otago pinot for everyone!