The 6th edition of the London Wine Competition saw judges award Yealands Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 a Gold medal (93 points) and the Best in Show Pinot Noir, an ultimate seal of approval in the global wine industry. Held in London on March 20th & 21st 2023, Yealands scored highly in the judging criteria of quality, value and packaging to receive this honour.
Yealands was also awarded another three Gold medals for their 2022 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, 2022 L5 Single Block Sauvignon Blanc and 2022 S1 Single Block Sauvignon Blanc, and an additional three Silver medals across the portfolio.
Chief Winemaker Natalie Christensen said the recognition was exciting and a reflection of the quality and diversity of styles coming out of Yealands’ Seaview Vineyard in the Awatere Valley subregion of Marlborough.
“It’s amazing to achieve a golden trifecta for our premium Yealands Estate Sauvignon Blancs! The Awatere Valley is such a special place, and the timing of the awards announcement was perfect as we were picking the last of our Seaview fruit for 2023 - a great morale boost for the team after a long five weeks of harvest.”
Christensen believes that an experimental winemaking technique may have given the 2021 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir an edge. “This Pinot was part of a trial where we played a mantra on repeat while it aged in the barrel – I like to think the mantra brought a special quality to the wine! It’s got beautifully delicate aromatic layers and a weighty elegance. There are ripe jammy notes and some of our Seaview herbal characteristics coming through too.”
The London Wine Competition is designed to applaud and award the wines that drinkers and wine lovers would enjoy choosing from a wine list of a restaurant or simply pick at a retail wine store. To be able to achieve this, the criteria of the London Wine Competition is to look at the wines as a whole. The panel of judges score the wines based on their quality, expertise and the potential they are made with. It also includes two other essential factors – the Value the wine offers and its Packaging.
The panel of judges at the competition consists of Sommeliers, Wine Directors from some of London’s finest restaurants, big chain buyers and independent merchants that have extensive commercial buying responsibility. Each panel of London Wine Competition also includes a Master of Wine or a Master Sommelier.
Gold Medals
Silver Medals
UK: Yealands Estate wines are available at The Great Wine Co. and Yealands Reserve Gruner Veltliner is exclusively at Waitrose.
New Zealand: Shop the medal winners directly from the Yealands website.
