Nelson vineyard wins national award

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Multi-award winning Nelson winemaker Daniel Schwarzenbach of Blackenbrook Vineyard has won a gold medal and the trophy for Best Gewürztraminer at the prestigious annual Bragato Wine Awards held in Napier on Thursday evening.

This is the fifth ‘best wine in class’ award at a national competition for the family-owned and run vineyard and it cements Blackenbrook’s reputation for producing outstanding aromatic wines.

Bragato Wine Awards are noteworthy because they recognise the grape grower rather than the vineyard and are awarded by fellow viticulturalists.

“We put our heart and soul into our wines,” Daniel says. “Accolades such as the Bragato trophy tell us that we are achieving something really special here. We are humbled by this recognition from our peers.”

Producing beautiful Gewürztraminer is the realisation of a long-cherished dream for the Schwarzenbachs.

“Before starting our vineyard I worked as a cellar hand for Alsace’s Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, one of the top Gewürztraminer producers worldwide,” Daniel says. “It was a fantastic experience and I couldn’t wait to get home to our patch of Tasman paradise to start planting our own aromatics.”

Ursula Schwarzenbach says that achieving another national award is a very proud moment for the small Tasman vineyard in a very competitive industry.

“Gewürztraminer is a variety that we have been working really hard on and it’s very exciting to see that our work is paying off in the glass.”