Marlborough’s champion wine of the year picked up not one but three trophies at the 2025 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Rapaura Springs Bouldevines Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 knocked out more than 500 Marlborough wines to be crowned the QuayConnect Champion Wine of the Show, alongside The Coterie Wine of Provenance and Vintech Pacific Champion Chardonnay, Current Vintage.

Chief Judge Stu Marfell said it had been another exciting Show, with some outstanding 2024

wines across the varieties, alongside many delicious 2025 Sauvignon Blancs and aromatics.

When Kimberley and Kevin Judd moved to New Zealand in 1983, they planned to stay for three years.

Now, more than 40 years after Kevin made the first Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and 16 years after they launched their own label Greywacke, the couple have received the Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025.

“Kevin’s influence on Marlborough’s global reputation has been profound, through the extraordinary wines of Cloudy Bay and Greywacke, and the beautiful photography that has put our vines and vineyards on coffee tables and walls around the world,” says Wine Marlborough General Manager Marcus Pickens.

“Kimberley’s wine marketing, hosting and support, from the fledgling days of Cloudy Bay to the growth of Greywacke since 2009, have helped cast a light on Marlborough.”

The Judds were on a photography trip in the mountains of Southeast China when the award was announced at the Marlborough Wine Show Celebration, held on 14 November. In a video recorded for the event, Kevin said they were proud to be part of Marlborough’s wine industry, but noted a lifetime award seemed premature. “We haven’t finished yet.”

On Monday, 10 November 2025, 50 New Zealand wineries gathered in Marlborough to mark the launch of Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand 2027 - a nationwide, three-day celebration of Aotearoa’s most iconic grape variety, taking place in Marlborough from 2-4 February 2027.

Nearly 100 wines have been awarded gold medals at the 2025 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Ninety-one golds were awarded - the highest number since records began in 2012, following a stellar 2024 vintage and stunning weather conditions leading into the 2025 harvest.

Chief Judge Stu Marfell said the 2024 season had been a hard act to follow, and that this year’s entries included Pinot Noir and Chardonnay entries of that vintage.

Fifteen judges will taste 622 wines entered into the 2025 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, this week.

Chief Judge Stu Marfell will be joined by a further 12 local judges, as well as out of region guest judges Sam Kim and Toni Paterson MW, in assessing the wines over three days starting Wednesday.

“We’re extremely pleased to have both of these talented and knowledgeable wine experts on the panel this year, Sam as a returning guest judge, and Toni for the first time,” he says.

Tickets for the next Marlborough Wine & Food Festival on Saturday 14 February 2026 are now available, as New Zealand’s original wine and food festival gears up for its 39th year.

Festival event manager Loren Coffey is delighted to announce Troy Kingi and Kaylee Bell will be headlining the day’s live music offerings.

Congratulations to Ruby McManaway from Yealands, Marlborough, who is the 2025 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year. Congratulations also to Anna Kelland from Constellation Brands, who is the 2025 Young Viticulturist of the Year. 

The winners were announced at the New Zealand Wine 2025 Celebration Dinner held at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre on Thursday, 28 August.

The Young Winemaker national finals were held on 26 August at Lincoln University, and the Young Viticulturist national finals were held at Greystone, Waipara, the following day.

Congratulations to Ruby McManaway from Yealands, who was announced as the 2025 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Marlborough Young Winemaker of the Year following the competition held on 16 July at Marlborough Research Centre and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology campus in Blenheim.

Whitehaven Wines has established a partnership with Selmes Garden Trust which will see individuals with disabilities engaged to help propagate seeds collected by Whitehaven.  

Selmes have announced the closure of its native garden centre retail operations, but have shifted to a native plant production model.

Seeds are eco-sourced from neighbouring properties, to ensure survival and retention of local characteristics, and Selmes staff propagate the seeds.

The plants are then replanted at The Springs property, near to where the seeds were originally sourced.

10,000 natives have already been planted, the next planting will start next week (w/c 14 July).

This is part of a major regeneration of a 760ha property in Marlborough’s upper Wairau Valley.

The Young Winemaker Competition provides a fantastic opportunity for future winemakers 30 years or under to upskill, grow in confidence, widen their network and start making a name for themselves within the industry. The winner of the regional competition will compete in the National competition against other regions. We are pleased to introduce you to the contestants competing in the Marlborough competition taking place on Wednesday 16th July.

Congratulations to Anna Kelland from Constellation Brands, who became the 2025 Marlborough Young Viticulturist of the Year on 29 May. This is the second consecutive year she has taken out the prestigious title. She is excited to represent Marlborough in the national finals again and determined to bring the national trophy home this year.   

Congratulations also to Laura Hammond from Babich, who came second, and Harry Watson from Berakah Vineyard Management, who came third.

Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) launches its highly anticipated Interactive Wine Map of Marlborough, a cutting-edge digital platform set to transform how wine professionals and enthusiasts experience the region's diverse terroir. This innovative tool elevates the original Wine Map of Marlborough, created by the Marlborough Wine Map Collective, into an immersive digital experience that brings the region's unique characteristics to life. 

Marlborough’s 2025 vintage was “smooth and easy and didn’t miss a beat,” says Jamie Marfell, group winemaker NZ at Vinarchy (formerly Pernod Ricard Winemakers). “Because the crop levels were up everything was ripening quite evenly and slowly, it wasn’t a rush and we brought in strong fruit across the region.

“The winery kept up with everything coming through the door and we were getting absolutely clean juice going into ferment. That’s the mark of a good vintage, when your ferments kick off after a couple of days, and the winery and everyone is working together, going to plan.” He says the well-paced harvest was a great way to mark 50 years since the first Sauvignon Blanc was planted in their Brancott vineyard.

The Marlborough Young Viticulturist of the Year Competition 2025 is now in its 20th year and is taking place on Thursday 29th May. This competition provides a fantastic opportunity for viticulturists 30 years or under to up-skill, grow in confidence, widen their network and start making a name for themselves within the industry. ⁠

Ten young Marlborough contestants will undergo a mix of practical and theoretical modules from pruning to Budgeting. They go head-to-head in the BioStart Hortisports event, a quick-fire quiz as well as give a speech at the awards dinner.   ⁠

We are pleased to introduce the Marlborough viticulturists competing in the 2025 Marlborough competition.

Pioneering Marlborough photographer and winemaker Kevin Judd is the 2025 recipient of the Marlborough Living Cultural Treasure Award. The award recognises individuals who have made an extraordinary, inspiring and significant contribution to cultural endeavour in Marlborough throughout their lifetime.

As anticipation builds for Méthode Marlborough Day 2025, the region’s winemakers invite enthusiasts to raise a glass to the future—one that promises exceptional bubbles, continued innovation, and a deep respect for the time-honoured traditions that make these wines truly special. This year, we celebrate with the call to 'Let the Bubbles Fly'—a fitting tribute to the artistry and joy behind every bottle.

Whitehaven Senior Winemaker Diana Katardzhieva has been named ‘Best Woman Winemaker’ for still white wines at the prestigious 2025 Sakura Women's Wine Awards. Both the 2024 Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc and 2023 Chardonnay were awarded the top accolade of Diamond Trophy.

A drive by Wairau River Wines to ‘bottle’ a taste of Marlborough has been recognised with two trophies at the Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

The team picked up two trophies at the 2024 event; Central Express Ltd Champion Wairau Valley Wine with their Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2024, and the Orora Limited Champion Riesling with their Wairau River Summer Riesling 2024.

Chief Winemaker Nick Entwistle said 2024 was a stellar vintage for each of these wines, which each showcase the soils within which they are grown, nurtured by careful handling and winemaking.

He told us a bit about what makes each of them, and the trophies they nabbed, so special…

A team effort to create a wine that epitomises Marlborough Pinot Gris has been recognised at the Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Dashwood Pinot Gris 2024 picked up the Label and Litho Champion Pinot Gris trophy at the show this year, confirming its status as a quintessential taste of Marlborough.

The Marlborough Wine Show aims to champion excellence and provenance, and promote diversity of wines grown in New Zealand’s largest wine region.

Winemaker Susan van der Pol said the wine had been the result of a shared effort between growers and winemakers to create a Marlborough Pinot Gris to be proud of. She shares a little bit more about it below…

A ‘goldilocks’ vintage has resulted in gold for te Pā Wines, who picked up the De Sangosse NZ Champion Pinot Noir, Current Vintage trophy at the 2024 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Made using a blend of fruit from two carefully selected sites, te Pā Pinot Noir 2023 was the winning wine. te Pā has a long history in Marlborough which extends back 800 years; long before the first grapes were planted in the region.

Below, owner Haysley MacDonald shares a little about that history, while Chief Winemaker Sam Bennett shares some insight into the wine and what made this vintage so special…