For the winemaking crew at Clearview Estate there was plenty of reason to toast success at the New Zealand International Wine Show awards dinner staged in Auckland last weekend when they scooped the Champion Chardonnay Trophy.
But the toasts continued when the ultimate award was announced. The Clearview Reserve Chardonnay 2015 which took the trophy for that class earlier in the evening was declared the Champion Wine of the Show, beating off 24 other trophy winners and the 2050 wines entered.
The ultimate trophy completed a trifecta of awards for the 2015 chardonnay at the country's largest wine competition, having also taken a gold medal.
"We are absolutely delighted," Clearview co-owner and co-founder Helma van den Berg said.
"Our reserve chardonnay is always a winning wine but this 2015 vintage is especially appealing, not just to wine judges but our regulars and a whole host of new customers who are loving the vibrant fruit and oak characters," she said.