NZ and Australia tie in the Trans-Tasman Wine Challenge

New Zealand Winegrowers injected some old fashioned rivalry in 'The Great Trans-Tasman Wine Challenge' on Thursday evening in Auckland ahead of the New Zealand and Australia Cricket World Cup game at the weekend. The two nations channelled their trans-Tasman rivalry as they met head-to-head in a blind wine tasting.

After some rigorous judging lead by Bob Campbell MW and Nick Stock, the ‘dream team’ of top 12 wines turned out to be a perfect split from Australia and New Zealand with each nation claiming six places each. Australian wine, Campbells Merchant Prince Rare Rutherglen Muscat NV, was crowned "player of the match".

New Zealand team captain, Bob Campbell MW, said: "The draw is an unsurprising result as both teams played to their strengths very well. All of the wines were incredibly close, and we really couldn't fault either team, as you can see from the results".

The event was a joint initiative between New Zealand Winegrowers, Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and ATEED.