Selection tasting date: Monday 23 November 2026
Registration deadline: 18 September 2026
Registration Link:
Are you of legal drinking age in your country of residence?
Are you of legal drinking age in your country of residence?
Selection tasting date: Monday 23 November 2026
Registration deadline: 18 September 2026
Registration Link:
Susie Barrie & Peter Richards are married UK-based Masters of Wine, well known from 25 years of broadcasting and writing, and co-hosts of the acclaimed Wine Blast podcast which goes out to 190+ countries and is regularly one of the highest-ranking drinks podcasts in global charts.
Following a rigorous tasting at the end of last year, in 2026 Susie & Peter launched their first New Zealand Wines of the Year with a full podcast and report, available on their website here. This was followed by a well attended trade tasting in April, attracting high profile media such as Jancis Robinson, MW and Julia Harding MW, Matthew Jukes, Sylvia Wu from Decanter and Geoffrey Dean from The Buyer. Trade buyers included Katie Merry from BBR, Freddie Cobb from Vagabond and Mark Stephenson from Grape & Grain Morpeth.
There was lots of positive coverage on social media, see New Zealand Winegrowers Europe Instagram and Susie & Peter’s for highlights.
Julia Harding MW and Jancis Robinson MW both attended the tasting with Jancis writing up Sparkling, other whites (not Sauvignon and Chardonnay), Rose and Pinots, while Julia did the Sauvignon, Chardonnays and other reds.
You may need a subscription to read the full JR.com piece here: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/carefully-selected-new-zealanders-tasting-notes
Financial Times https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/carefully-selected-new-zealanders
https://winedrinker.co.uk/new-zealand-wines-of-the-year-2026/
Producers are now invited to submit wines for the next selection tasting taking place in November 2026. Susie and Peter will choose a broad selection of their top wines from that tasting to be their New Zealand Wines of the Year. Their chosen wines will feature in a full published report, with a dedicated Wine Blast episode starring the best-performing producers going out in early 2027. Following on from that, Susie & Peter will host a bespoke UK trade tasting in April/May 2027 to champion their NZ WOTY.
Last year Susie & Peter were hugely impressed with the wines they tasted and the final WOTY line-up comprised 112 of their current favourite New Zealand wines, with Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Noir particularly strong. What they’d love to see more of this year is rosé, sparkling wine and reds beyond Pinot Noir, as well as more innovative wines that really push boundaries.
The potential benefits of participating include unrivalled exposure for you and your wines, reaching a new audience, cultivating a broad range of customers, plus gaining visibility and traction in a key market. It’s a different way to connect with people and drive commercial success.
Susie will be attending and speaking at Sauvignon NZ as well as visiting key wine regions and catching up with the latest trends and nuances of NZ wine, and would love to discuss the project with producers or answer any questions you may have.
We suggest sending four bottles for the initial tasting and if selected in the WOTY, we will be able to use them for the event showcase – which will save shipping costs. If you supply from your importer, please ask them to ensure there is enough stock of wines submitted to show in the event as well.
Target audience: Trade, Media, Consumer
Market: UK
Suitability for wineries include: Existing exporters and new to market
Format: Selection tasting in November 2026, Self Pour tasting for trade in April/May 2027
Please submit your list of wines including UK £RRP (or equivalent), UK importer contact details or select that you are seeking distribution by Friday 18 September 2026.
We also need a tech note for the correct vintage of each wine submitted.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN OPEN TO PARTICIPATION EVENT, FEES AND CONDITIONS ARE SHOWN BELOW
Registration Options
NZD $ Per wine $300
Wineries/importers will be invoiced based on the number of wines entered into the event.
Only the top chosen wines from the selection tasting will be featured in the podcast, report and event.
Invoices to be issued in October 2026, 30-day terms. Final adjustments to be made post-event.
We must have 200 wines signed up for this event to go ahead.
All New Zealand wines submitted will need to be registered in the Wine Registration Area of the Member Portal using an approved certifying programme such as SWNZ, BioGro-NZ, AsureQuality, Demeter or ISO14001 as per the New Zealand Winegrowers Sustainability Policy. There is more information on how to register a wine here: https://www.nzwine.com/members/brand/events/wine-registration/