Make room in the trophy cabinet: like the wine, the awards keep flowing for Hawke’s Bay’s Clearview Estate, continuing its four-year chardonnay winning streak with another haul of trophies.
In the past week alone Clearview’s 2019 Reserve Chardonnay and Beachhead 2019 Chardonnay both earned double gold medals at the NZ International Wine Show (NZIWS), and took out gold medals at the Bayley’s A&P Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards and the New World Wine Awards respectively.
And that’s not the end of it. Just last night, the 2019 Beachhead Chardonnay was named Champion Wine of the Show at the NZIWS — out of 2,000 wines entered — and the 2019 Reserve Chardonnay won the coveted Outstanding Wine of Provenance at the A&P Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards.
The past week’s haul adds to the already impressive pedigree of Clearview Chardonnay. Since 2016, the variety has been recognised with awards every year, despite the competitions getting bigger, with more entries.
2018 was also a stellar year for chardonnay at Clearview Estate, with the winery’s 2018 Reserve Chardonnay and 2018 Endeavour Chardonnay featuring in the annual Fine Wines of New Zealand list. The list names 95 wines considered to be the best in the country, meeting “excellence in winemaking, provenance and consistency standards”, and selected by a panel of New Zealand’s top independent wine experts.
Clearview Estate founding winemaker Tim Turvey says their chardonnay is special because of its provenance and history.
“By that I mean the whole story of Clearview Estate. The soil, the climate, the Mendoza clone of chardonnay, the people who have grown the grapes, the people who have made the wines, and the loyal customers that have supported us for over 30 years,” he says.
Photo: Clearview Estate chief winemaker Matt Kirby flanked by co-owners Tim Turvey and Helma van den Berg.
Congratulations.My 2 favourite wines are Chard & Merlot.I look forward to case of the former.Cheers JS.