He had no idea this year's awards would be so stunning for Villa Maria, and made the decision to head to the Bay at the last minute as he had been busy with a group of visiting distributors from the UK.
"The staff kept telling me, 'You've got to go, you've got to go', and the Hawke's Bay team were asking me to come on down."
Sir George said he had to be "selective" about what he attended due to his business commitments but said he decided to make the time.
"We have a great team there in Hawke's Bay."
He was thrilled for that "great team" as the results began to emerge during the evening.
"I did not think it would be that major but we have some great vineyards down there and we have always sought a strong viticultural and winemaking team."
He paid special tribute to Villa Maria's chief winemaker Pick Picone from Napier, who started with the company when he was a teenager and was now in his 18th year with it.
"He is outstanding. There is a lot of experience there," was Sir George's summation. He said the Hawke's Bay region was equally outstanding for the production of top quality wines and said the Gimblett Gravels region was "so valuable" and represented more than 50 per cent of Villa Maria's merlot and syrah trophies.
"And as time goes by it is getting better and better for those vines."
He said his enjoyment at the event had probably made up his mind that he would head there again next year.
"The marquee setting and the gardens - and meeting people from across the wine industry - it is a great evening."
Mr Picone said the results underlined Villa Maria's focus on quality.
"The 2013 vintage is widely acknowledged as Hawke's Bay's finest red wine vintage ever, so for Villa Maria to have won almost all the top red awards is an amazing acknowledgment that our wines are the best of the best from 2013," he said.
"Our team puts a lot of effort into our premium Hawke's Bay vineyards and as owners of a significant portion of the prestigious Gimblett Gravels area, we're fortunate to be able to create some very special wines from what these vineyards offer." Asked if he had something lined up for the team in the celebratory sense Sir George said he did.
"I will be shouting all the staff over the next week - it is a terrific result."
-There were celebrations also for the Sileni Estates team, which took out the prestigious House of Travel Hawkes' Bay Cellar Door of the Year title.
"I'm delighted with the results. I'm an unashamed localist, proud of what we have to offer here in the Hawke's Bay," Sileni CEO and president Sir Graeme Avery said.
"We pride ourselves on providing an outstanding experience for visitors to our cellar door and this success demonstrates that we're achieving that."
The Sileni cellar door team was tested on wine skills, presentation, customer service and knowledge of the region.
A shortlist of the top Hawke's Bay cellar doors was collated by mystery shoppers and the six finalists then competed for a public vote, with a pop-up cellar door at the Hawke's Bay farmers market. "We're utterly thrilled with the win. We have a great team here at our cellar door and everyone loves their job," cellar door manager Anne Boustead said.
"When you love your product and you love what you do, you can't help but provide a great experience."
