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Azahara Moscato Triumphs at International Wine Shows.

Announcement posted by Wingara Wine Group 12 Sep 2016

Two trophies and gold for a $15 wine

Azahara NV Moscato ($15) from Victoria’s Murray Darling has scooped two trophies, a gold medal and silver medal at two recent international wine shows.

Competing against high profile sparkling wines, Azahara collected two trophies and a gold medal at the 2016 Japan Wine Challenge.  The trophies were for the Best Dessert Wine in Australia and the Best Value Dessert Wine (from 1,000 yen to 1,999 yen).

The 19th Japan Wine Challenge 2016 was held in Tokyo and is Asia’s oldest and arguably most prestigious wine competition.   Over 1,600 wines from 30 countries were entered and judged by leading wine professionals from Japan and abroad.  

Azahara NV Moscato also won a silver medal at the 2016 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships in the UK.  The wine was one of just 18 Australian wines to score a medal at this highly regarded competition. 

The Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championship is unique in that all the wines entered are tasted and evaluated by the same three specialist sparkling wine judges, every year. Medals awarded must be agreed by all judges: Tom Stevenson (UK); Essi Avellan MW (Finland) and Tony Jordan (Australia).

Speaking of the judging process, Tom Stevenson explains, “We have tasted thousands of Champagnes and sparkling wine together under blind, competitive conditions over the years. We respect each other’s experience, we each know what to look for. We spend a lot of time searching for elegance and finesse.” 

About Azahara Moscato

Azahara is Spanish for ‘orange blossom’. Sourced from family owned vineyards in the Murray Darling region of north east Victoria, the vines are interspersed with orange, mango and avocado groves. 

Winemaker Frank Newman, crafts Azahara Moscato from Muscat Gordo Blanco grapes.  The wine is cool fermented with an aromatic yeast to accentuate the fruit.  Fermentation is arrested early, so alcohol is just 6% by volume.  Inline bubbles enhance the refreshingly sweet palate.  

 Frank says of this wine’s international success, “The most pleasing thing is the chance to put our wines up against international counterparts and when they do well, it shows that stylistically, Azahara compares well with industry icons.  I aim to retain fresh juicy characters and put as much effort in making this wine as I do our best Shiraz.  I’m always searching for the perfect balance of aroma, palate weight and acid balance.”  

 Technical details - Alc/Vol: 6.0% pH: 3.00 Acidity: 6.9g/L RS: 105g/L.

 For more information about the wine competitions

http://www.champagnesparklingwwc.co.uk and http://www.japanwinechallenge.com