About 500 bottles of wine, beer and liqueur are being judged in the 23 New Zealand Amateur Winemakers and Brewers Federation competitions being held in Hawke’s Bay.
The biennial competitions are being held at Riverbend Bible Church Conference Centre near Hastings, with judging on Friday and the awards presentation on Saturday night.
Nigel Hurley, who will be defending the national brewing title he won in Christchurch when the event was last held in 2019 (the pandemic meant no event was held two years ago), said crafters from throughout New Zealand had entered, and about 12 judges would be testing the products of their enterprise.
There were two major awards for Hawke’s Bay four years ago, when winemaker Michael Deroles claimed top honours for the best dry white grape wine.
