KEY POINTS:
The Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2006 sent for judging in four major New Zealand awards was different from the one on shop shelves.
Last Friday, winemaker and director Brent Marris said there was nothing to apologise for, and Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said he was intrigued to know what the industry body should do.
By Thursday Mr Marris had been stripped of one gold and returned a silver and a gold medal.
Saturday
The Weekend Herald reveals the wine has lost a five-star rating from Cuisine magazine after scientific testing showed the sample entered in its annual competition was different from that bought at a supermarket.
The competition had explicit rules against providing one wine for judges and another for the market.
Documents obtained by the Weekend Herald show a senior scientist from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research determined the two had different levels of alcohol, sugar and acidity. He said they were "completely different".
The Cuisine judging sample was from a batch called BR315, of which 2228 cases were made.
Total production was more than 100,000 cases - essentially giving consumers a one in 50 chance of buying the award-winner.
Mr Marris' explanation to Cuisine was that a separate early batch was made before the total blend of the wine was bottled for mass consumption. He said there was no attempt to mislead. The early batch was made to "best represent" the vintage to come and was used to fill early orders.
The BR315 sample won a silver medal at the industry's own Air NZ awards, a gold in the Liquorland Top 100 and a gold at the NZ International Wine Show.
Sunday
Wither Hills takes out full-page newspaper adverts defending the wine.
Monday
Wine critic Michael Cooper speaks out in the Herald, saying he was the whistleblower after the Cuisine tasting. He tells how suspicions led him to blind-test the competition sample against a bottle from his supermarket.
He identified a difference, preferring the competition wine in five out of six tests.
The magazine set up a three-judge panel to blind-test the competition sample against the shop-bought bottles. Mr Cooper again favoured the competition sample by five to one. Another judge could not identify a difference, favouring three of each. The third favoured the supermarket sample by five to one.
The magazine then sent the samples for testing.
Mr Cooper was initially led to believe Cuisine would publish the reasons for the disqualification in the January awards issue. When he was told this was unlikely to happen, he began to "dissociate" himself.
In a further blow for Wither Hills, the Sauvignon Blanc 2006 is stripped of its gold medal by the New Zealand International Wine Show, the country's biggest wine awards.
The decision is made by its chief judge, critic Bob Campbell, who said it was "easy" because of a rule that the entry samples must conform to the wine in the marketplace.
Tuesday
Even though he has not written up tasting notes for 157 chardonnays needed for the next issue, Mr Cooper is told by Fairfax Magazines general manager Lynley Belton that it is best the relationship is terminated given his "prominent role" in the Wither Hills controversy.
Wednesday
One of the country's pioneering winemakers, Allan Scott, criticises Mr Marris and calls on him to resign as chairman of judges at the Air NZ Wine Awards.
Thursday
Wither Hills returns all its medals and Mr Marris resigns as chief judge of the Air New Zealand awards.
Winegrowers chairman Stuart Smith says the body has accepted that Withers Hill made a mistake.
Friday
Mr Marris tells National Radio he is following standard wine industry practice in bottling a wine made from grapes harvested earlier in the season than his later bottlings.
* Clarification
A report in yesterday's Herald could have been taken to suggest Cuisine wine critic Michael Cooper lost his job at the magazine because he blew the whistle on the Wither Hills saga.
As previously reported, Mr Cooper had already decided to leave Cuisine to join Winestate magazine for other reasons.
Subsequent to his speaking out on the Wither Hills issue the owners of Cuisine suggested in an email that his residual work for Cuisine might terminate early so readers would not be confused to see his name in Cuisine after it was known publicly that he had departed.
