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 Once again the prestigious Gold eluded India but the previous record of 3 Silvers was matched, and with the additional 16 Bronze Medals, the highest tally of 19 medals beat the earlier record of 18. Grover and KRSMA shared the awards almost equally with Grover (2 Silver+8 Bronze) being at 10 and KRSMA, very close at 9 (1Silver+8 Bronze). There were no medals for other participants.
What helped India was perhaps the advice given by delWine and taken lightly by other producers. For the last 3 years delWine has been recommending all wine producing participants, especially the Indian producers to enter more prominently in the food and wine match (reasons explained rather distinctly in several previous Articles some of them being mentioned at the end of this article).
KRSMA has won 3 medals in the regular wine segment but 6 medals in the wine and food pairing category-twice the number won by the top winner Grover Zampa which has won only 3 medals in this category but 7 in the regular-wine category, implying either that the KRSMA wines submitted are more food friendly or that Grover Zampa did not enter enough in the food and wine category.
There are no trophies for India in any category. In fact, India did not win any medal in the mushroom pea masala category though they won a medal each in the Butter Chicken category-KRSMA Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 winning a Bronze and Grover Art Series Collection Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 also winning a Bronze. Interestingly, Vijay Amritraj Collection Red won the lone Silver Medal in the Cantonese Braised Basket. Grover Art Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2016 also won a Silver Medal in the Crystal King Prawn with Parma Ham category.
Trophy for the Best Wine with Mushroom & Pea Masala went to FIOL Prosecco DOC produced by 3GP s.r.l.in Italy whereas Best Wine with Murg Makhani (Butter Chicken) Trophy was bagged by Val du Charron Black Countess 2013 – a Rhone Style, big and bold blend of 44% Shiraz, 24% Pinotage, 16% Mataro (Mourvedre), 8% Carignan, and 8% Grenache from South Africa.
Some of our readers who felt last year that the results were too liberal for Asian producers might be interested to know that Australia has bagged a mind-boggling 489 medals although in both the wine and spirits combined categories. They have also bagged 10 trophies with New Zealand following with 6, out of a total of 53 trophies in the wine and spirits section.
Three countries significantly improved their previous performances: Portugal had 109 medals going from the 9th place last year to 5th this time. Austria quadrupled its previous year’s medal bag with 29 in total. Germany also more than doubled its medals from 2015. Wine entries hailed from 31 countries around the world while 27 countries sent their samples from 27 countries.
There was an increase of 11% in the samples entered. Brazil, England, Israel, Mexico, Slovenia, Switzerland and Vietnam entered their wines for the first time whereas spirits from Barbados, Georgia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Philippines and the Republic of Ireland debuted this year. Wine entries from Portugal increased 144%, while entries from Germany were up 400%. Wines from Georgia saw a massive growth of 1400%, showing the diversity now demanded by Asia’s increasingly mature wine consumption market, says Debra Meiburg MW, the competition Director and Chairman who announced the Awards through the competition’s website. She added that France, India and South Africa also saw significant growth
 The most successful wine producer was Australian Vintage Limited, headed by the well-known and much awarded Australian winemaker Neil McGuigan who was also the VIP Judge at the Cathay Pacific HKIWSC last year. This is the same group that was involved in a legal battle with the now defunct Chateau Indage Vintners and finally won the case. Represented in India by Hema Connoisseur Collection, it dominated the white wine category and won the following Trophies
Best Riesling : McGuigan Shortlist Riesling 2008,
Best Chardonnay : (Nepenthe Ithaca Chardonnay 2015)
Best Semillon : (McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon 2007)
Best Australian Wine : McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon 2007
For a quick look at the performance of the India contingent, CLICK HERE:
If you are visiting HKIWSF on Nov 10-12, you should stop by at booth 3C B23, and meet the HKIWSC team and possible some of the judges. A selection of winning wines is on display throughout the Show. There will also be a special tasting on Friday 11 November at 5:30pm -6:30 pm at the Wine Tasting Room A, Hall 3C of the top award winners, hosted by Debra Meiburg MW and Allen Gibbons, CEO of London-based IWSC Group which partners with Debra Meiburg MW and Simon Tam who now works full-time with Christie’s.
For Indian Result please CLICK HERE
Full results are available at www.hkiwsc.com
For some of the earlier related Articles that detailed the relevant results please click on the following Articles:
Cathay Pacific HKIWSC Gains Further Strength
HKIWSC: Matching Wine with Food for Gold
Cathay Pacific HKIWSC 2015 Unqualified Success
For an Article on 2015 Results, visit Medals rain for GroverZ at HKIWSC
For an Article on 2014 Results, visit HKIWSC: GroverZ creates History for India with 15 Medals
For an Article on 2013 Results, visit HKIWSC: Silver Lining with Sparkling Soiree in Hong Kong IWSC
Subhash Arora |