Three top wine competitions in Australia have banned New Zealand wines from entering, saying help is no longer needed to give this country's wines a foothold in the Australian market.
New Zealand sauvignon blancs, pinot noirs and more recently syrahs have consistently won top awards in Australian wine contests.
The Canberra Wine Show wrote to the chief executive of New Zealand Winegrowers, Peter Gregan, saying this country's wine producers were to be excluded from its competition.
Mr Gregan says the reason given was that entry was introduced to help New Zealand wine gain entry to the Australian market, but that that was no longer needed. It's disappointing, he says, but he's viewing it as a back-handed compliment.
Tasmanian and Perth competitions - run by A&P societies - have since excluded New Zealand wines too.
Peter Macdonald, the general manager of Hunters Wines, which has consistently won top awards for its pinot noirs and sauvignon blancs in Australia, says he hopes the bans will be reversed, as they may affect smaller producers.
Just one major competition - the Sydney International Wine Competition - has not banned New Zealand wines and its organiser, Warren Mason, says he has no plans to stop New Zealand wines competing.
He says he can understand the reaction. Australia is currently suffering a serious wine glut and imports, especially from New Zealand, are making it worse.
But he says their exclusion from the wine shows is a surprising move and there is a lot to be learned from the progress New Zealand winemakers have made.
