It’s that time of year again. The results of Decanter World Wine Awards 2009 have been released, and we’re delighted to see, of our current vintages in stock, one Gold, one Silver, five Bronze and four commendations awarded. All can be seen below.

This adds nicely to our medal collection from last years awards, most of which we still have in stock (including a lovely gold medal winning Albarino, which is one of many). We’ll keep you well informed of new award winning vintages as they come in – as well brand new award winning lines.

The Decanter World Wine Awards is great for consumers seeking for tried and tested wine that will deliver on quality, but it must be remembered that there’s big money involved in entering the competition, so many of the smaller producers with lesser marketing budgets can be overlooked.

Gold Medal

Glaetzer Amon-Ra 2007: Ripe fruit with a savoury spice, bacon, liquorice, chocolate and opulent oak – exceptional complexity.

Silver Medal

Langmeil Hangin’ Snakes Shiraz-Viognier 2007: Medium intensity. Gorgeous nose. Lovely, supple mid-palate. Plush and gorgeous.

Bronze Medal

Alta Pinot Grigio 2007: Fresh, herbal, spiced pears and apple. Good acidity, well-balanced, integrated palate.

Tussock Sauvignon Blanc 2008: Fresh but slightly oily note. Well made with good balance.

Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2008: Flinty, steely nose, very crisp, classy balance. Long finish.

Langmeil Blacksmith Cabernet Sauvignon 2006: Mint and cassis. Focused. Generous, ripe tannins.

Langmeil Three Gardens 2006: Subtle evolution. Tea, black fruit and pepper, firm tannins.

Commended

Heartland Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Rockbare Shiraz 2006

Rockbare Chardonnay 2007

Chateau Bauduc Bordeaux Blanc 2008

Other recognised wines of earlier vintages

I’ve recognised the earlier vintages, many of which have received awards in previous years, as I believe they pay testament to the ability of the winemakers.

Woodstock “The Stocks” Shiraz 2006 (Bronze Medal) – 2004 vintage

Tabali Reserva Syrah 2007 (Silver Medal) – 2006 vintage (Bronze Medal in 2008 Awards)

Mirabello Pinot Grigio Rosé 2008 (Commended) – 2007 vintage

Tohu Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (Commended) – 2007 vintage (Air New Zealand Elite Gold)

Palazzi Negroamaro 2007 (Commended) – 2006 vintage

Saxanburg Private Collection 2006 (Bronze Medal) – 2004 vintage

Alvaro Palacios Les Terrasses 2007 (Bronze Medal) – 2005 vintage

Fuenteseca Bobal-Syrah 2008 (Bronze Medal) – 2007 vintage (Bronze Medal in 2008 Awards)

Heartland Viognier-Pinot Gris 2007 (Bronze Medal) -2006 vintage

Glaetzer Annaperenna 2007 (Bronze Medal) – 2006 vintage (Trophy winner in 2008 Awards)

Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz 2007 (Bronze Medal) – 2006 vintage (Commendation in 2008 Awards)

Langmeil Orphan Bank Shiraz 2006 (Bronze Medal) – 2005 vintage (Bronze Medal in 2008 Awards)

Domaine Chante Cigale Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2006 (Bronze Medal) – 2005 vintage (Bronze Medal in 2008 Awards)

Another wine I would like to mention is the 2008 white brother of our award winning Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Domaine Chante Cigale. It won a Decanter Trophy (the top accolade), and we’ll be doing our best to get our hands on a few cases before Christmas.

That’s it for another year – in the meantime watch this space for new wines and awards.

Click here to view all of the results from the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards

Friday the 13th turned out to be a very lucky day indeed for Curious Wines. Dressed to the nines in ballgowns and penguin suits, we took off for Dublin and the 7th Annual Digital Media Awards, where we scooped some great sites and big brands to bring home the award for Best Commercial Website. If you heard a huge noise anywhere in Ireland at about 8:55 PM, that was us – whooping with unabashed glee.

You can read our rather official comments on winning this very prestigious award in the press release, but more to the point: we’re having a celebration sale so we can share our happiness and good luck with our customers. In honour of the 7th DMAs, all champagne and sparkling wines are 7% off. So buy, drink and be merry – we certainly are.

Cheers!

We were absolutely over the moon to get the news on Tuesday that Curious Wines has been shortlisted for a Digital Media Award in the Best Commercial Website category. Everyone here is confident that Curious is a great site with great products and can hold its own in the cut-throat world of online commerce, but since we’d been in public launch for about 20 minutes when we put our application in back in November, it was the tiniest bit cheeky on our part, and a brilliant surprise to learn we’d made the shortlist for this year’s awards.

We’re in excellent company in this category with a great list of finalists:

• Argus Car Hire
• Curious Wines
• Hairy Baby Clothing Company
• ssh.ie
• three.ie
• Toyota Ireland Website

Frankly, we’re all so delighted to be listed in such prestigious company that we’d be happy to lose to any one of these nominees. On the off chance our name is called out for a gong on the 13th of February, however, we’ll be cracking open a bottle or two of our very best bubbly!