The record 118 gold medals awarded at the 2011 Royal Easter Show Wine Awards is a demonstration of the quality advances made by New Zealand wines in the last two years. In his 19th year as general director the awards, Terry Dunleavy said that from a quality standpoint, New Zealand wines have shown rapid recovery from the difficulties caused by the high-yielding 2008 vintage.

"What's in the bottle has shown 2010 to be one of the best vintages of the last few years, especially in our No 1 export variety Sauvignon Blanc which won 21 gold's, while our stellar red, Pinot Noir, continued its remarkable progress also with 21 gold's. Notable among the new varieties was Pinot Gris with 14 gold's, while Riesling and Gewurztraminer have also regained momentum".

Total entries 1542, were up 1.6% on last year, the quality lift was exemplified by the 16% increase in gold medals, 18% increase in silvers 262 from 222 and bronze medals fell by 2.7% from 551 to 536.

Champion / Trophy Pinot Noir 2011

Akarua Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

Gold Medals:

Lake Chalice Raptor Marlborough Chardonnay 2009

Dusky Sounds Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Sacred Hill Halo Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Lake Chalice Eyrie Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Gris 2010

Akarua Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

Rockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

Silver Medals:

Akarua Chardonnay 2008

Allan Scott Marlborough Chardonnay 2010

Allan Scott 'Wallops' Marlborough Chardonnay 2009

Ti Point Chardonnay Hawkes Bay 2010

Waipara Hills Waipara Chardonnay 2010

Allan Scott Marlborough Riesling 2009

Waipara Hills Equinox Waipara Riesling 2010

Waipara Hills Waipara Riesling 2010

Akarua Pinot Gris 2009

Waipara Hills Waipara Pinot Gris 2010

Sacred Hill Hawkes Bay Merlot / Cabernet 2010

Sacred Hill Deerstalkers Syrah 2007

Akarua Reserve Pinot Noir 2009

Torea Marlborough Pinot Noir 2010