Tuesday 14 November 2017 by WHITE CASTLE
WELSH VINEYARDS CELEBRATE GROWING SUCCESS
The growing success of Wales as a wine producing country was celebrated at the Welsh
Vineyards Association’s (WVA) annual wine competition.
Held at Llanerch Vineyard at Hensol in the Vale of Glamorgan, the competition
saw over 50 wines entered by nine vineyards ranging from north to south
Wales.
Split into five classes, 21 wines were awarded Bronze, doubling last year’s
achievement. Five gained Silver and this year, 3 wines were awarded Gold. The best wine in each class also received a
trophy: Whjte - White Castle Vineyard’s ‘Siegerrebe
GOLD’; Rosé - Llaethliw Vineyard
BRONZE; Red
– White Castle’s Rondo
BRONZE; Sparkling – Tintern Parva Vineyard’s ‘Dathlu’
GOLD ; Sparkling Rosé - Llanerch
GOLD, with the
'The Thomas Davies Memorial Trophy'
also being given to Llanerch Vineyard’s ‘Cariad Blush’ as overall Wine of the
Competition.
The expert judging panel was comprised of Linda Johnson-Bell: wine
judge, author, and founder of The Wine and Climate Change Institute; Sue
Tolson: wine educator, judge and editor of the popular website, WineSofa.eu and
Dylan Rowlands: Welsh radio and TV personality, co-author and owner of the wine
merchant’s Gwin Dylanwad Wine.
The climax of the competition was the awards dinner, which was televised on S4C
and attended by the event’s sponsors and David Morris, the Welsh Government’s
Food and Drink representative.
WVA Chairman, Robb Merchant said: “Welsh wine-making has increased 70% over the
last decade as production soars to more than 100,000 bottles a year. The
interest in Welsh Wines is growing as the quality improves. The awards are
judged to international standards and those vineyards who have won awards can
very proud of their achievement. I would also like to thank the sponsors and
organising team who have worked hard to raise the profile of Welsh Wines.”
2017 Award winners were as follows:
Bronze
Llanerch, Cariad Dry 2013
White Castle, Gwin Gwyn 2016
Tintern Parva, Bacchanlia 2016
Pant Du, Gwin gwyn 2016
Llanerch, Cariad Dry White 2015
Montgomery, Solaris 2016
Conwy, Pydew 2016
Sugarloaf, Calon Lan 2016
Lleathliw, White 2016
Tintern Parva, Afon Gwy 2015
Llanerch, Cariad Medium Dry 2013
Llanerch, Cariad Rosé 2015
Lleathliw, Rosé 2016
Tntern Parva, Bwthyn Rhosyn 2015
Lleathliw, Red 2015
Tntern Parva, Ty Coch 2016
Pant Du, Gwin Coch 2016
White Castle, Rondo 2015
Conwy, Pefriog 2015
Tntern Parva, Dathliad Rosé 2010
Llanerch, Cariad Blush 2014
Silver
Tintern Parva, Baccus 2015
Conwy, Solaris 2016
Llanerch, Cariad Medium Dry 2016
Llanerch, Cariad White 2012
Glyndwr Rose 2015
Gold
White Castle, Siegerrebe 2016
Tintern Parva, Dathliad 2013
Llanerch, Cariad Blush 2011
Sunday 22 October 2017 by WHITE CASTLE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2017
2017 WELSH WINE AWARDS – 7th November
with Lesley Griffiths AM, Cabinet Secretary for Environment
and Rural Affairs
Vale of Glamorgan – This year’s Welsh Vineyard
Association’s annual awards will again be held at Llanerch Vineyard in the Vale of Glamorgan, with Special
Guest, Lesley Griffiths AM, Cabinet Secretary for
Environment and Rural Affairs. The AM will be accompanied by Dorian Davies, the
new Food and Drink representative.
Welsh wine-making has increased 70
per cent over the past decade as production soars to more than 100,000 bottles
a year. (Welsh Wine is the Toast of Bordeaux, The Telegraph, May 2016).
“The interest in Welsh
Wines is growing as the quality improves and production is set to double by
2020.” – Robb
Merchant, WVA Chairman.
The expert judging panel is
comprised of Linda Johnson-Bell, wine judge, author, and founder of The Wine and Climate Change Institute, Sue Tolson, wine
educator, judge and editor of the popular website, WineSofa.eu, and Dylan Rowlands, Welsh radio and
TV personality, co-author and owner of the award-winning wine merchant and bar,
Dylanwad. They will be tasting over
40 wines from 10 vineyards.
This year’s event will
have the added addition of a TRADE & PRESS tasting (14.00 – 16.00).
For more information about
the Awards, the TRADE & PRESS tasting or the Welsh Vineyards Association, please
contact Robb Merchant at 01873 821 443 or at info@whitecastlevineyard.com.
Thursday 13 October 2016 by WHITE CASTLE
WELSH VINEYARDS CELEBRATE HOME GROWN SUCCESS
Thegrowing success of Wales as a wine producing country was celebrated at theWelsh Vineyards Association’s (WVA) annual wine competition.
Held atLlanerch Vineyard at Hensol in the Vale of Glamorgan, the competition saw 42 wines entered by nine vineyards ranging
from north to south Wales.
Split into five classes ten Bronze and five Silver awards were made, with the best wine in each class also receiving a trophy. Kerry Vale Solaris 2014 was named as overall Wine of the Competition and received the 'The Thomas Davies Memorial Trophy'.
The expert judging panel were: Linda Johnson-Bell wine critic, author and climate change analyst; Michael Harrison international wine judge and Bibendum Fine Wine manager; and David Cowderoy winemaker and owner of Bevtec.
This year saw a change in format with the WVA’s first trade and press wine tasting session, giving them an opportunity to meet some of individual vineyard owners and taste their wines.
The climax of the competition was the awards dinner – which was televised on S4C - and attended by the event’s sponsors and representatives from the Welsh Government’s Food Division.
Said WVA Chairman, Robb Merchant, “The interest in Welsh Wines is growing as the quality improves, presently Welsh vineyards produce around a 100,000 bottles a year and this is set to double by 2020. The awards this year have been judged to international standards and
those vineyards who have won awards can very proud of their achievement. I would also like to thank the sponsors and organising team who have work hard to raise the profile of Welsh Wines.”
The award winners were as follows:
WHITE WINES
Bronze
White Castle Gwin Gwyn 2015
Llaethliw White 2015
Conwy Solaris 2015
Tintern Parva Afon Gwyn 2014
Silver
Tintern Parva Bacchus 2014
Kerry Vale Solaris 2014 ( winner of the Halfpenny Green Salver)
ROSÉ
Bronze
Conwy Rosé 2015
Llaethliw Rosé 2015
Silver
Tintern Parva Bwthyn Rhosyn 2015 ( winner of the Three Choirs Salver)
RED
Bronze
Kerry Vale Red Kite 2014
Conwy Rondo 2014
White Castle Rondo 2014
Silver
White Castle Pinot Noir Précoce 2014 (winner of the Three Choirs Salver)
SPARKLING WHITE
Bronze
Ancre Hill Blanc de Blancs 2009
Silver
Tintern Parva Dathliad 2013 (winner of the Smarts Salver)
WINE OF THE COMPETITION
Kerry Vale Solaris 2014 (winner of 'The Thomas Davies Memorial Trophy')
Monday 27 June 2016 by WHITE CASTLE
PRESS
RELEASE
27th
June 2016
STILL WINES DOMINATE
IN UK WINE INDUSTRY’S NATIONAL COMPETITION
The industry's annual national wine
awards - The English & Welsh Wine of
the Year Competition – have delivered some of the best ever numbers of
medals.
Despite the marginally lower number
of entrants compared to last year – reflecting the slightly lower production in
2015 – the number of Gold medals was nearly 60% up and the highest over the
last 5 years of the competition.
Nonetheless, the competition has seen a progressive growth in entrants
over the years, this year attracting 305 wines from 94 producers from across
England and Wales.
258 medals were awarded across the style categories, representing nearly
85% of all entries,
which included 32 Gold, 121 Silver and 105 Bronze medals. Overall,
still wines dominated the entries and medal gains, with 216 still white,
rosé and red wines entered, gaining just over 70% of all the medals. 87 sparkling wines were entered, representing just under
30% of the medals.
Organised and run by the United Kingdom Vineyards Association (UKVA)
and for a second year sponsored by Waitrose,
the Competition is an opportunity for producers of all sizes and from across England
and Wales to compete against each other.
This year’s entrants included some of the UK’s largest producers to
smaller and first-time producers. The wines were judged over two days at Llanerch
Vineyard near Cardiff by a team of five
Masters of Wine and marked to international professional standards. Chaired by David Bird MW, the panel also
comprised: Robin Crameri MW, Rebecca Hull MW, Angela Muir MW and Patricia
Stefanowicz MW.
The Gold medals alone reflected the
diversity of size and style now produced in England as well as a wide geographic
spread. Successes this year included a
still white from one of England’s most northerly vineyards, Leventhorpe
Vineyard, and a sparkling wine from a one acre vineyard in Hampshire – East
Meon Vineyard.
The different style categories of
wines and volumes produced are acknowledged in the13 Trophies that are also
awarded.
Once again it is wines produced from
the UK’s top three most widely planted grape varieties – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
and Bacchus – that dominated the trophies awarded, with Bacchus a clear winner.
Three trophies were awarded to a 2015 Bacchus from Norfolk’s Winbirri Vineyard, which scooped the Trophy
for Most Outstanding Large Production Wine from 2015 vintage, Most Outstanding
Single Variety Wine and Most
Outstanding Unchaptalised Wine.
Further Bacchus success was won by Furleigh Estate in Dorset whose 2014 Bacchus Fumé won Most Outstanding Oaked White Wine and Most Outstanding Large Production Wine (Any year other than 2015). Additionally, Camel Valley Bacchus Dry
2015 won the Most Outstanding Large
Production Wine (over 10,000 litres).
The Most Outstanding Sparkling Wine Trophy was won by Dorset sparkling
wine producer Langham Wine Estate, further
continuing its competition success, having won the same trophy last year with another
wine from its stable. The Most Outstanding Sparkling Rosé Wine
Trophy was won by Hattingley Valley
in Hampshire. Both wines are produced
with the three traditional Champagne varieties.
Pinot Noir was
also a proven winner in the still wine stakes, with Kent’s Gusbourne Estate Pinot Noir 2014 taking the Most Outstanding Red Wine, with the Most Outstanding Still Rosé Wine trophy going to first time producer Oxney Organic Estate from
Sussex.
Sweet wines also have their own
trophy - Most Outstanding Sweet Wine
– which this year was won by Denbies
Wine Estate Noble Harvest 2014, continuing the outstanding success of
earlier vintages of this wine in a number of competitions.
A Best Presented Trophy is awarded to a bottle for its overall
presentation – this year the winner is Fenny
Castle Barrel Fermented Ortega 2015.
This year, to mark the
competition judging having taken place in Wales, a Welsh Wine of the Year Trophy has been sponsored by the Welsh
Government. The winner of this award is Parva Farm Vineyard Dathliad 2013, a
sparkling wine from Tintern in South Wales.
David Bird MW, Chair of Judges,
and a long standing member of the judging team, commented on how impressed he
was by the standard of entries. “This
year the competition went very smoothly, despite the large number of wines. The
team of judges worked extremely well.
They all taste internationally and apply international standards.
“The
high level of medals achieved is a measure of the high standard that winemaking
in the UK has reached. The joy of the competition this year is that we were
struggling not to award golds everywhere!”
Commenting on the competition,
Barry Lewis, CEO of UKVA said: “This year’s high number of entrants
into the competition reflects a growing confidence within the industry. I'm
delighted with the results and pleased that the judges noted the overall
consistency of quality. I'd like to thank the Welsh Vineyard Association and
Llanerch Vineyard, for being amazing hosts.”
There
are three remaining trophies yet to be unveiled and will be announced at the
industry’s annual awards lunch, taking place on 12th July at
Vintners’ Hall: the prestigious Winemaker
of the Year (The McAlpine Trophy) and the Wine of the Year Trophy (The Gore-Browne Trophy) together with the English Wine Producers Communicator of the
Year Trophy.
The results in full will shortly be
available on www.englishwineproducers.com and www.ukva.org.uk.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The
English & Welsh Wine of the Year Competition is organised by the United
Kingdom Vineyards Association, and this year took place at Llanerch Vineyard, hosted
by the Welsh Vineyards Association. Each
year the competition is hosted by a different vineyard region of the UK.
The
English & Welsh Wine of the Year Competition is the only competition in the
world judged entirely and only ever by Masters of Wine, bringing with them
their wealth of experience, expertise and tasting to international
standards.
The
EWP Communicator of the Year Trophy recognises the contribution to the UK wine
industry that is made by so many and is presented to an individual or business
outside the wine industry that has, through their work, raised awareness in the
industry and its wines. Nominations for this award are submitted by members of
the industry and the winner is selected by a panel of English Wine Producers
member producers
Interviews
with the organisers or the Chairman of Judges can be arranged. Please contact
Jo Cowderoy, United Kingdom Vineyards Association, tel: 07904 011331 or email jo@ukva.org.uk, or Julia Trustram Eve,
English Wine Producers, tel: 01536 772264 or email julia@englishwineproducers.com
A
copy of the full results can be emailed – please contact julia@englishwineproducers.com
The following trophies were
awarded:
Jack Ward Memorial Salver - The
most outstanding large production wine – 2015 vintage
Winbirri
Bacchus 2015
Wine Guild Trophy - The
most outstanding large production wine – any other year
Furleigh
Bacchus Fumé 2014
President's Trophy - The
most outstanding small production wine (<1500 litres)
Langham
Wine Estate Classic Cuvée Reserve 2011
Dudley Quirk Memorial Trophy - The most outstanding large production wine (>10,000
litres)
Camel
Valley Bacchus Dry 2015
Vintners’ Trophy - The
most outstanding sparkling wine
Langham
Wine Estate Classic Cuvée Reserve 2011
Bernard Theobald Trophy - The most outstanding red wine
Gusbourne
Pinot Noir 2014
McNie Trophy - The
most outstanding oaked white wine
Furleigh
Bacchus Fumé 2014
Tom Day Trophy - The
most outstanding single varietal wine
Winbirri
Bacchus 2015
Waitrose Rosé Trophy - The
most outstanding still rosé wine
Oxney
Organic Estate English Pinot Noir Rosé 2015
Bob Lindo Trophy - The
most outstanding sparkling rosé wine
Hattingley
Valley Rosé 2013
Berwick Trophy - The
most outstanding large production unchaptalised still wine
Winbirri
Bacchus 2015
Stefanowicz Trophy – The most outstanding
sweet wine
Denbies
Noble Harvest 2014
Welsh Wine of the Year Trophy – The most outstanding Welsh Wine
Parva Farm Vineyard Dathliad 2013
Montagu Trophy - Best
presented wine
Fenny
Castle Barrel Fermented Ortega 2015
Sunday 12 January 2014 by GUEST
Report written by James Graham of UKVINE
A delightful lunch and award ceremony was staged on Monday as the Welsh
vineyard industry announced it had arrived on the wine scene as a stand-alone part of the wider UK industry.
And the silver wear was accompanied by a call from the re-formed Welsh Vineyard Association (WVA) that “Welsh wine needs you” made by WVA chairman Richard Morris at the event.
He says: “We want to attract everyone in the Welsh wine industry – growers, retail, enthusiast – anyone who has an interest in the subject. Membership is welcome to join at just £20, which will fund our work promoting Welsh wine.”
Award-winning
The WVA wine competition 2013 was staged before the lunch, when three judges, selected for their wine business standing, worked through 35 wines in three classes – Still white and Still Rose; Red wine; and Sparkling White and Sparkling rose – ultimately awarding one gold, five silver and 15 bronze medals.
Head judge, Decanter World Wine Award senior judge and Michelin starred chef, Roger Jones, was keen to point out that the wines were judged to the “highest international standards” and that no favour was shown, despite the Welshness of the judging panel. The wines were blind tasted and marked using the rigorous Decanter World Wine Awards format.
Joining Jones on the panel were Bill Gunn, former managing director of Champagne producer Pol Roger, and Julie Bell from the Felin Fach Griffin near
Brecon, winner of the Best Pub Wine List of the Year award at the 2012 Imbibeawards.
Award winners
The one gold, five silver and 15 bronze medals were awarded as below:
GOLD
Sparkling
White and Sparkling Rose
Ancre Hill Sparkling Rose 2009
SILVER
Sparkling
White and Sparkling Rose
Tintern Pava Bacchus 2011
Tintern Pava Bwthyn Rose 2011
Red Wine
Ancre Hill Pinot Noir 2009
Ancre Hill Pinot Noir 2011
Sparkling
White and Sparkling Rose
Ancre Hill Sparkling White 2008
BRONZE
Still
White and Still Rose
Ancre Hill Chardonnay 2010
Pant Du Rose 2012
Tintern Pava Sir Fynwy 2012
Wernddu White 2011
Sugarloaf Abergavenny 2011
Red Wine
White castle Rondo 2012
Tintern Pava Ty Coch 2011
Sparkling White and Sparkling Rose
Wernddu Sparkling 2007
Glyndwr White Brut 2009
Ancre Hill Sparkling Pinot Noir/ Seyval Blanc 2008
Sugerloaf Rhosyn 2007
Llanerch Sparkling Brut 2011
Ancre Hill Sparkling White 2009
Tintern Pava Dathliad White 2006
Meadowview Gwyn-y-Fro White 2010
The competition and lunch was held at Llanerch Vineyard in the Vale of Glamorgan, itself in the midst of an ambitious expansion to grow its restaurant
and holiday business. The day was hosted by Ryan Davies, Llanerch vineyard director.
Wales now boasts 17 vineyards, the majority of which have already joined the WVA.
“Welsh wines are definitely gaining in stature and reputation, and Wales is now producing wine to rival anything that can be found anywhere in the
world,” said WVA chairman Richard Morris, who with his wife Joy runs the multi-award winning Ancre Hill Estates vineyard near Monmouth, one of only two biodynamic vineyards in the UK.
Morris says: “It is incredibly important we as an Association and producers move forward. We hope to attract non vineyard members too – people
interested in wine and Welsh food and drink – and our aim is for the WVA annual competition to become an international event with Welsh and international classes.”
Vineyards in Wales
More than 20 different grape varieties are grown in Wales with Welsh vineyards producing around 100,000 bottles of wine each year.
The Romans and French monks are said to have introduced wine to Britain, but it was Lord Bute who is credited with planting Wales’ first commercial
vineyard in 1875 at Castell Coch near Cardiff. In recent years Welsh wine has taken centre stage at major political events, most notably when Britain held the Presidency of the European Union which saw Tintern Parva from Monmouthshire served at the European Summit meeting, and wines from the Vale of Glamorgan’s Glyndwr Vineyard are served in the House of Lords’ and have graced European State banquets.