Hard-fought wine 'match' for Central Otago wines in Bledisloe Cup of Wine

It may not have mirrored the All Blacks’ annihilation of the Wallabies, but Central Otago wines put up a good fight in the Bledisloe Cup of Wine.
 

Central Otago winemakers put their best varieties and vintages forward in a fundraising Bledisloe of Wine dinner held in Sydney on the eve of the rugby.
 
Top officials from the Australian and New Zealand rugby unions, past players and wine lovers attended the high-end wine and food match where five each of Australia’s Barossa Valley wines went ‘head to head’ against five of Central Otago’s most outstanding wines.
 
Voted on by the dinner guests throughout the evening, the Australians took out the Kiwis in the wine challenge, making it one-all in the series so far.
 
Two Paddocks vineyard owner and ardent rugby fan Sam Neill presented the Central Otago wines while Australia’s Barossa Valley wines were led by Mitchell Taylor from Taylors Wines.
 
Central Otago Pinot Noir’s Glenys Coughlan says she was happy with the work the Central Otago “selectors” put in to choosing a line-up designed to complement the dinner menu.
 
“Guests were really impressed with Central Otago’s Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle 2010, the Prophet’s Rock Dry Riesling 2014 took out the Taylor’s Estate Riesling 2015 and Aurum Noble Riesling put up a good fight against the De Bortolli Noble One,” she says.
 
“It was always going to be a challenge taking on Barossa Valley Shiraz’s with our Pinot Noirs but it could have gone either way, pitching award winning wines from two globally recognised wine regions against each other. It was great to be able to enter into the spirit of the competition.
 
“New Zealand won the same event last year and I’m sure we’ll be invited back next year to try to bring the Bledisloe of Wine back to the home country!”
 
Glenys says Sam did an “excellent” job of presenting some of Central Otago’s finest drops and thanked him for his efforts as a wine ambassador for the region. “Sam is a genuine fan of South Australian Shiraz so he handled the defeat with diplomacy.”
 
Money raised on the night goes to the ARFU’s charitable trust supporting rugby players and their families in need.