While Pinot Noir is traditionally viewed as a more expensive varietal, the medal tally for New Zealand Pinot Noir at this year's New World Wine Awards shows that affordable home grown Pinot is on the rise.

The result comes after an expert panel of 12 independent judges spent two days blind-tasting and evaluating a wide range of wines in Wellington on 20-21 July. Each wine entered into the competition is judged according to the same internationally-recognised points system as other leading wine awards.

"This year, the judges found the Pinot Noir was a very strong class with several Gold medals awarded and the majority of wines displaying great concentration of classic Pinot Noir aromas and flavours. With each wine judged on its merits, and the entry requirement for wines to retail for under $25, that's very good news for Pinot Noir drinkers,"says Jim Harr, Chair of the 2010 New World Wine Awards judging panel.

Of the 126 Pinot Noirs entered into the awards, 60 were awarded medals: five Gold, 11 Silver and 44 Bronze. As well as meeting the requirement to retail for less than $25, each wine was required to be readily available, with at least 500 cases available for sale.

Overall, the competition attracted 1,035 wine entries from New Zealand and overseas. Of the 160 vineyards that entered, over 50 were new to the competition, reflecting the increasing awareness and recognition of the awards among winemakers.

Across all varietals the judges awarded a total of 35 Gold, 105 Silver and 348 Bronze medals after ranking the colour, taste and smell of each wine, based on its individual merits. Of those winners, New Zealand wines claimed 29 Gold, 71 Silver and 248 Bronze medals. Wines from the Marlborough region won the most medals (160) ahead of Hawkes Bay (74).

Following a separate 'taste-off' of the top wines in each category by all the judges, the following awards were made:

Top Red Wine - Wolf Blass Gold Label Shiraz 2008 (Australia) Top White Wine - Dashwood Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (New Zealand) Top Sparking Wine - Brancott Estate Reserve Brut Cuve Chardonnay Pinot Noir (New Zealand)

"For the second year running, the Brancott Estate Reserve Brut Cuve Chardonnay Pinot Noir was awarded top sparking wine which really reflects the consistency and calibre of the wine."

"The Sauvignon Blanc and 'Red and Blend' varietals won the highest number of medals overall with 18% and 15% respectively. The Pinot Gris class also showed good growth, taking home 47 medals, up from 35 last year," said Mr Harr.

A Top 50 selection of the award winning wines will be showcased in the 2010 New World Wine Awards booklet and customers will have the chance to view food and wine matches, video clips of the judging process, recipes and full competition results on the revamped 2010 New World Wine Awards website at http://www.newworld.co.nz/wine-beer/wine-awards

For the first time New World customers will be able to use their mobile phones to find food matches and detailed information for all of the Top 50 wines on a mobile website by simply scanning a bar code on the neck tag displayed on each wine in any New World supermarket or by texting a unique number displayed with each wine to 5900.

The medal-winning wines will be on sale in all New World Supermarkets from Monday 20 September.