Murdoch James success

Murdoch James Estate is celebrating its 30th year as a Martinborough wine producer by winning gold medals and a trophy at two prestigious competitions in London. won gold for the Murdoch James Blue Rock Pinot Noir 2014 at the Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge (IWC), plus a trophy for the Blue Rock Pinot Noir at the IWC. In addition to the trophy and two gold medal wins, Murdoch James Estate’s 2014 Blue Rock Syrah also won an impressive Silver at the IWC.

The Decanter World Wine Awards is one of Europe’s toughest wine contests with only 3% of 16,000 entries winning gold. The International Wine Challenge, now in its 33rd year, sees all wines assessed blind and judged for their faithfulness to style, region and vintage. Each medal-winning wine is tasted on three separate occasions by a least ten different judges.
The company has produced Martinborough Pinot Noir and Syrah since 1986, winemaker Carl Fraser said the company’s philosophy was based around traditional wine-making. “Everything is hand-picked, hand sorted and hand-plunged. we don’t have machine harvesters or trucks delivering the fruit. We use oak barrels, and we fine the traditional way using egg whites. Our philosophy is simple: respect the old ways and use the hands to create smooth textured wines.