De Sangosse were happy to be sponsoring the Marlborough Wine Show again in 2023. Supporting the local wine industry through sponsorship allows events such as this to continue to grow and celebrate Marlborough Wine.

Refined and thoughtful winemaking techniques have been celebrated by judges at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.
A panel of 17 judges tasted more than 550 entries, awarding 46 gold medals to wines of all varieties, from right across Marlborough’s subregions. Guest judge Emma Jenkins MW was impressed by the ability of winemakers to produce quality wines across the board, particularly following a few tricky vintages from 2021 – 2023. For fellow guest judge Stephen Wong MW, Chardonnay was a ‘super standout’ of the show, with Pinot Noir entries also piquing his palette. Chief Judge Stu Marfell was very pleased with the quality of entries for 2023, and felt it was a true showcase of wine excellence in Marlborough.

This year De Sangosse sponsored the Pinot Noir awards: Champion Pinot Noir Current Vintage & Champion Pinot Noir 2020 & Older.

Champion Pinot Noir Current Vintage Winner
Isabel Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2021. This also received the Champion Wine of the Show 2023 award and Champion Wairau Valley award. 

Champion Pinot Noir 2020 & Older
Lawson’s Dry Hills The Pioneer Tilly’s Single Vineyard 2020. 

Wayne Walton, De Sangosse Technical & Sales Manager Lower North Island and Viticulture Specialist, mentions that making a high quality Pinot Noir takes a lot of work. 

“Pinot Noir is difficult to grow and make into wine, the shoots grow side ways, some clones have very large shoulders, reducing the quality of the fruit, so a lot of canopy management is needed, to remove shoulders and align shoots so that high quality wine can be made, and the bunches are very tight so Botrytis can be an issue.

The skins are thin, so they have low levels of phenolics and light Tannins,  which make a medium bodied wine, plus low levels of anthocyanins, so colour retention is reduced, giving a lighter coloured wine. Aging can also be unpredictable as the juice may have a high Ph.”

It was another great event and we look forward to continue to support the local Marlborough wine events and industry in the future.