Hawke's Bay wines take medals in Hong Kong

TRIPLE SUCCESS: Sileni Estate Winery won three silver medals in Hong Kong. PHOTO/FILE

Three Hawke's Bay wineries have had silver medal success at the recently staged Hong Kong International Wine sand Spirit Competition, with boutique Havelock North vineyard Chateau Waimarama picking up four of the nine silvers to come the Bay's way.

Managing director Chase Arquette said the winery team were "absolutely delighted" to pick up the medals with three confirming the 2009 vintage was a very good one.

The other was from 2010, a more difficult season, but Mr Arquette said the hands-on approach had resulted in being able to produce what he described as a superior product every year.

"All our wines are single estate grown so we don't blend with grapes from other vineyard areas and we produce only 2000 cases a year, which predominantly gets exported to Japan," he said.

"The 2009 wines have now won medals in New Zealand, Hong Kong, San Francisco and London, so not bad for a winery that is single estate grown and it shows that the investment and continuing attention to detail in the vineyard is the key to our success."

Chateau Waimarama's silver wines were for its 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Syrah, as well as Chateau Waimarama 2009.

The 2010 Syrah also struck silver.

The winery also grabbed three bronze medals.

Sileni Estate took three silvers with its Greyrock Reserve Merlot 2013, The Lodge Chardonnay 2013 and The Straits Sauvignon Blanc 2014.

Elephant Hill grabbed two silvers with its LE Phant 2013 and the Syrah 2013.

The Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition is run in partnership with the London-based International Wine & Spirit Competition, which has been running for 45 years and is the world's premier platform for recognising quality in the industry.

The competition was created specifically for the Asian market and is the first truly Asian wine competition in the world.