A New Zealand raider has won the hotly-contested best pinot noir trophy at the Royal Hobart International Wine Show while an Australian chardonnay took best wine in show.
New Zealand winemakers have dominated the category in the past 10 years at the show in the state where pinot noir accounts for 40% of production.
Nautilus Estate and Villa Maria have won three of the past four pinot noir trophies at the show.
Tasmania however turned the tables on New Zealand with Bream Creek Vineyard winning best sauvignon blanc, a category benchmarked by the Kiwis.
Victoria's Coldstream Reserve Chardonnay 2006 was best wine in show.
Coldstream Hills winemaker Andrew Fleming said the trophy reinforces the quality of Yarra Valley chardonnay with 2006 being an outstanding vintage.
"This wine has had amazing run with 11 trophies to date," Fleming said.
Across the ditch, winemaker Clive Jones said on Thursday he was pleased the Nautilus Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007 took the trophy after ten years of trying at this show.
"Australia is our biggest market and it's an international competition that endorses our product," Mr Jones said.
"We have been making pinot noir seriously for about 10 years and this represents the culmination of what we've achieved to date."
Bream Creek winemaker Fred Peacock said a good sauvignon blanc captures a wide range of flavours, from the grassy, asparagus and gooseberry areas to the passionfruit end of the taste spectrum.
"We do that by picking at different times, by taking fruit from different sides and slopes to pick up that full spectrum of flavours - that's what we are chasing," Peacock told ABC radio.
Fifteen judges assessed almost 2,800 wines, with entries from 57 Tasmanian wineries and 215 interstate producers.
Fourteen New Zealand winemakers competed.
The judges, who completed their task on Wednesday night, noted developments in the way winemakers are handling newer white wine varieties.
They were impressed with a trend towards building distinctive texture and enhanced mouth-feel in whites such as pinot gris and the Spanish variety albarino.
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