Full Circle Sauvignon Blanc 2011 by Yealands Estate has secured a gold medal in the 59th Royal Easter Show Wine Awards.

The Full Circle Sauvignon Blanc is bottled in an environmentally friendly plastic bottle that is 89 percent lighter, generates 54 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and uses 19 percent less energy to produce than traditional 750ml glass bottles.

Other gold medals for the Yealands Wine Group include Peter Yealands Pinot Noir 2010, Crossroads Pinot Noir 2010 and the Crossroads Vineyard Selection Syrah 2009.

"It is great to see any of our wines recognised with a gold medal but I am particularly happy to see the Full Circle Sauvignon Blanc, a wine bottled in plastic, do so well in awards like these," says Yealands Wine Group owner and founder, Peter Yealands.

"We invested a lot of time and effort to ensure that the quality of our Full Circle wine is up to our usual award-winning standard," says Peter. "The Full Circle bottles use innovative DiamondClear? technology which features oxygen scavengers to significantly reduce the amount of oxygen, meaning the quality, taste and aroma of the wine isn't affected."

The Royal Easter Show Wine Awards is New Zealand's oldest and longest running annual national wine competition.

Of the 1,261 entries in the 2012 competition only 9 percent were awarded a gold medal. Sauvignon Blanc was the top gold medal winning variety with 20 medals followed by Pinot Noir with 19 medals.

Trophy winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner at the ASB Showgrounds on 17 March.

A summary of the medals awarded to the Yealands Wine Group global is listed below:

Gold:

- Full Circle Sauvignon Blanc 2011

- Peter Yealands Pinot Noir 2010

- Crossroads Pinot Noir 2010

- Crossroads Vineyard Selection Syrah 2009

Silver:

- Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc 2011

- The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc 2011

- Peter Yealands Riesling 2011

- Yealands Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2011