Hawke's Bay's reputation for producing world-class blended red wines has been underlined by toasts of approval at a special tasting session in Shanghai for 40 of that region's leading wine professionals.
The tasting was an integral part of a week of specialised Hawke's Bay-focused wine events staged in China which is an increasingly valuable export destination for top-class wines.
Eight of the Bay's wineries took part - Babich, Paritua, Trinity Hill, Elephant Hill, Te Mata Estate, Ngatarawa, Vidal and Rod McDonald Wines, with three top French Bordeaux wines also involved in the special blind tasting which left Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Association chairman and Trinity Hill chief executive Michael Henley delighted.
"Showing our wines to this type of educated audience is how we are going to build a reputation for our Hawke's Bay blended reds," he said.
"We were not trying to compete with the wines of Bordeaux - rather, we are trying to show the world that our wines deserve to be recognised as exceptional wines and this tasting helps to achieve that goal."