New Zealand's most awarded winery, Villa Maria Estate, has had another international triumph this month, beating hundreds of top competitors to take the title of 'New Zealand Wine Producer of the Year' at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London.

It's the fourth time that Villa Maria has received this elite award in recent years and the third occasion this year that the successful wine company has taken the top New Zealand prize at an awards competition.

The International Wine & Spirit Competition is the most highly regarded and longest running competition in the world. Thousands of wines from more than 33 countries are blind tasted by industry experts to reveal the best in each category by hemisphere.

In addition to clinching the top title, Villa Maria collected the IWSC Trophy for Sauvignon Blanc for its Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2009, making it the fourth consecutive year that a New Zealand wine has won this trophy.

This stand-out Sauvignon Blanc has had resounding international success, including another trophy win at the Royal Hobart Wine Show in Australia earlier this month and a 93/100 score by Wine Spectator, the most esteemed wine magazine in the USA.

Villa Maria Group Winemaker, Alastair Maling MW says the win is another incredible achievement for Villa Maria, particularly given the tough competition faced in this event.

"While the 2009 vintage was particularly favourable for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, the fact that we are continually out-performing other wines of this variety around the world confirms that we are achieving consistently high quality in our winemaking and setting the benchmark for Sauvignon Blanc internationally. Full credit must go to the growers and vineyard teams, as well as the winery teams in each of our key wine growing regions.

"On the back of being named New Zealand Wine Producer of the Year, this award is great recognition of Villa Maria's cumulative results this year. Winning top wine producer is an accolade that any winery would aspire to, so to have won three such awards this year alone is truly outstanding," Maling says.

Villa Maria this year celebrates 30 years as New Zealand's most awarded winery. Every variety of wine ever produced by Villa Maria has won at least one and in many cases numerous awards.