Wooing Tree Beetle Juice and Blondie both win gold at the Royal Easter Show, New Zealand’s oldest and most respected wine competition.

The Wooing Tree Beetle Juice 2008 has won a gold in the Pinot Noir class and the Wooing Tree Blondie has won gold in the Rose' class. Wooing Tree co-owner Steve Farquharson said "This is a great start to the year, two gold's in the one competition is pretty amazing for our small family owned and run vineyard. I am especially pleased for the Blondie result, the still Blanc de Noir made from 100% Pinot Noir is very tricky for the winery team to make and causes a few interesting headaches each year at harvest". Award-winning local winemaker Carol Bunn and her team at Vinpro made the wines. The previous vintage of the Blondie won the New Zealand Innovation of Winemaking Trophy in 2008.

The show’s director, Terry Dunleavy, remarked on the increase of top medals awarded over the judging, saying it was a good indication of the extent to which New Zealand’s winemakers have raised the bar on quality in recent years.

The newly appointed chair of judges, Kate Radburnd comments: “White wines from the 2009 vintage and reds from earlier vintages, mainly 2008, reflected the evident focus of the winemaking community on improving quality by lower yields in vineyards and continued honing of their winemaking technique. The gold medal wines are top class by the highest international standards. Five panels judged 1517 wines of which only 102 were awarded gold medals, 276 Wineries entered the competition. 2010 Royal Easter Show trophy winners will be announced at the official awards dinner on 20th March, 2010.

Wooing Tree is situated in the heart of Central Otago, New Zealand, next to the town of Cromwell and opposite the big fruit sculpture. The family owned single vineyard site specialises in Pinot Noir. The Wooing Tree label has had a remarkable first few years, 5 trophies, numerous gold medals, 5 star ratings, and praise from wine writers worldwide. Most recently the Wooing Tree Pinot Noir 2007 gained 95/100 and 3rd place in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine Pinot Noir tasting to add to the 2 trophies and 8 gold medals it has already achieved.

Wooing Tree is currently exported to Australia, UK, Ireland, Sweden, ingapore, Japan, Taiwan, China, Canada (Ontario and Quebec) Hong Kong and Macua. We are seeking distribution in other countries, including the US.

Wooing Tree wines are available at fine wine stores and restaurants through out New Zealand and in many overseas countries. See www.wooingtree.co.nz