KEY POINTS:
It was the palate of acclaimed wine critic Michael Cooper that exposed a different Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2006 was sent to judges than that on shop shelves - and he preferred the entry version more than a bottle bought at the supermarket.
Mr Cooper, the outgoing wine editor of Cuisine, was chairman of the magazine's tasting panel that initially gave the wine a five-star rating and identified it as one of its top 10 New Zealand sauvignon blancs, a prized endorsement it was denied when the difference was uncovered.
Mr Cooper yesterday told how suspicions led him to blind-test the competition sample against a bottle from his local supermarket.
He identified a difference, which was later confirmed by testing at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR).
Mr Cooper was speaking publicly for the first time since the Weekend Herald revealed the discovery of the different wines.
"As a wine writer, my commitment is to the truth and to the wine-drinking public of New Zealand. There's a lot of bullshit that surrounds wine. My guiding principle in all this has been to come to the truth."
Mr Cooper said his initial test of the judging sample and a bottle from his local Birkenhead Countdown was done with the blessing of Cuisine after rumours within the industry pointed to there being different versions of the Wither Hills wine.
He described blind-testing six pairs of the samples - and in five of the six times preferring the competition sample.
He then did a similar exercise of comparing the Wither Hills bought from the supermarket against two other wines from the top 10, again preferring the competition samples.
Mr Cooper said the magazine then decided to set up a three-judge panel to blind-test the competition sample against the shop-bought bottles.
He again favoured the competition sample by five to one.
One judge, Kay Morganty, could not identify a difference, favouring three of each.
The other, Sam Kim, favoured the supermarket sample by five to one.
The magazine then sent a bottle of each to ESR for testing. A senior ESR scientist determined the two had different levels of alcohol, sugar and acidity.
Mr Cooper said he was not surprised by the lab report.
"The point is I rest my case on my palate. It had already told me these wines were different. I felt vindicated. It was now unarguable that a different bottle had been sent to the judges than that which the vast majority of the public could buy."
Wither Hills winemaker and director Brent Marris then explained that the samples sent to Cuisine for judging came from a separate early batch of the wine called BR315, which was made before the total blend of the wine was bottled for mass consumption. There were 2228 cases made out of a total production run of over 100,000 - essentially giving consumers a 1 in 50 chance of buying the award winner.
Mr Cooper said the magazine had explicit rules banning companies providing one wine for judges and another for the market and Wither Hills was told that its entry would be denied the accolade.
He said he was initially led to believe Cuisine would publish the reasons for the disqualification in the January awards issue. When he was later told this was likely not to happen he began to "dissociate" himself.
"At that point I felt the public had a right to know. I felt the winery concerned could not be permitted to get away with it.
"I also began to worry about my integrity. If the situation did become public and I was seen to have remained silent my integrity could have been called into question."
The wine submitted to Cuisine had already won a silver medal at the Air New Zealand Wine awards, a gold in the Liquorland Top 100 and a gold at the NZ International Wine Show.
Mr Cooper said he had "amicably" resigned from Cuisine a month ago for other reasons, and was not speaking on behalf of the magazine.
He described it as the most demanding issue of his 36-year career because of the power of the vested interests.
Michael Cooper
* Outgoing wine editor of Cuisine.
* Has been seriously tasting wine for 36 years, including 15 years as a national show judge.
* Chief judge for New World Wine Awards.
* Author of 29 books, including the country's biggest-selling wine book, Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines.
* An officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
* Aged 54, lives in Birkenhead with wife Linda and children Eleanor and Charlotte.
