Katikati winery Leveret Estate has been awarded gold at both the 2017 New World Wine Awards for their 2017 Falconhead Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

The awards are one of the largest and most influential wine shows in New Zealand and in the New Zealand International Wine Show.

Leveret Estate Winery sales and marketing director, Fiona MacDiarmid, says they are no strangers to the competition.

'We are long-time supporters of this competition because of its unique focus on wines that are affordable and widely available, while judging quality on the same basis as all other major wine competitions.”

The New World Wine Awards are judged by a panel of 16 independent expert wine judges that blind taste and judge each wine using the same internationally recognised 100-point scale as other wine competitions worldwide.

This means that wines are held to the same standard as at any other wine show. The only difference is that all wines entered must retail for $25 or less a bottle and at least 5000 bottles must be available for sale.

'Winning two gold medals in this highly competitive category (sauvignon blanc) is a fantastic result and testament to the quality of wines that we produce at our Katikati winery.

'The added advantage for Kiwis is that all our Falconhead wines are affordable, so this is a Gold Medal wine priced at less than $20” says Fiona. 'The New Zealand Falcon is also on that same $20 note”

The award-winning 2017 Falconhead Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has made it into the NWWA Top 50 and is available at Brookfield New World or from the Leveret Estate Cellar Door on State Highway 2.