The caps were off and the glasses filled, albeit just a little, as 11 leading members of the national and international wine industry set off yesterday on the path to determining which 22 wines and their creators will pick up the plaudits at this year's Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards.
The judging is taking place at the EIT's Centre of Viticulture and Wine and among the judging line-up are two international judging guests, Dr Sue Bastion from Adelaide and Patrick Comiskey from Los Angeles.
Chairman of judges and Trinity Hill chief winemaker Warren Gibson said that when putting the judging team together he wanted to ensure word about the high standards being achieved within Hawke's Bay winemaking reached the country's biggest export market.
Through strong demand for Marlborough sauvignon blanc and Otago's pinot noir New Zealand wine exports to the US were running near the half-billion dollar mark.
"By leveraging off New Zealand's growing popularity in the United States we have a huge opportunity to educate and increase sales for Hawke's Bay wine and get them just as excited about our chardonnay, merlot/cabernet sauvignon and syrah wines," Mr Gibson said.