Two Atkins for NZ Wine

Influential Observer wine columnist Tim Atkin has published his Best Of list for 2007. Atkin named NZ his wine producing country of the year, with the 2006 Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir (Central Otago) and 2007 The Ned Waihopai River Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) held up as the best of a brilliant bunch. “An award from me won’t make up for the pain of losing in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup, but New Zealand’s wine producers have done their country proud,” he writes. Alastair Waling (pictured), Villa Maria‘s resident Master Winemaker, was named winemaker of the year. Atkin: “Villa Maria’s white wines are always excellent examples of their style, but it’s Maling’s progress with affordable Pinot Noir that wins him my award.”