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Hawke's Bay winemakers believe commercial pressure may have contributed to the Wither Hills wine debacle - where noted wine critic Michael Cooper proved that bottles sent to Cuisine magazine for testing differed from those sold at the supermarket.
Stonecroft owner and winemaker Alan Limmer said this was not the first time wine competitions had come into disrepute.
"It's been a problem previously for Cuisine and New Zealand Winegrowers. We had a particular problem five years ago with a wine which had taken several gold medals and a trophy which was later found to be inconsistent.
"The whole tasting process was changed considerably and I would suspect it is pretty rigorous now.
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"But the protocols which anyone else uses for their reviews would generally be less rigorous, which leaves a question mark over a whole lot of tastings. And commercial pressure is undoubtedly a key factor," Mr Limmer said.
Te Mata Estate chief executive John Buck has been judging wines for over 30 years, and said he decided to call it a day in 1991 as he began to have doubts about the integrity of wine competitions.
"I don't think you can legislate for integrity with regard to wine competitions. More than 50 per cent of wine growers don't enter competitions, so it's really an evaluation of the big brands and people who want to make a name for themselves. Where is Cloudy Bay and where is Te Mata Estate in these competitions?
"We do single vineyard wines where quantities vary, and once we're out of a wine we're out of stock so we're not going to give in to supermarket buying pressure.
"As chairman of judges, Brent Marris should know the rules, and he shouldn't be judging a show with his own wine in it.
"When I was chairman of judges, I automatically could not exhibit. If you take that position and the kudos that goes with it, you should take responsibility for the show.
"The more and more this goes on, the less and less serious wineries will want to take part in these competitions.
"The system is too open to abuse, and I'm not remotely surprised as this has been an accident waiting to happen," Mr Buck said.
Winemaker Brent Marris is now working overtime to stem the fallout.
He has taken out large advertisements in national newspapers to assure the public of the quality of his Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2006.
In his open letter to "wine lovers", Mr Marris said:
"Wither Hills has never and will never create small batch blends for the express purpose of entering wine shows."
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said the organisation was investigating the matter, which could include looking into the wine's medal win at the Air NZ awards.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
