An Otago pinot noir with "truffle-like" overtones may have stolen the show yet the Bay can still lay claim to the country's best syrah.
Mission Estate Winery scooped the coveted Champion Syrah category at Saturday night's Air New Zealand Wine Awards, with its Mission Reserve Syrah Hawke's Bay 2015.
It was pipped at the post by Lowburn Ferry's Home Block Pinot Noir Central Otago 2014, which claimed the Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Trophy in front of a 1000-strong audience in a gala dinner at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre.
The Mission Estate was the Bay's best performer, also claiming honours in the Top Exhibition Red Wine category for its Reserve Cabernet Franc.
Mission Estate chief executive Peter Holley said he was "absolutely rapt" with the two wins and believed it was an "affirmation" of the winery's style amid the country's most acclaimed winemakers.