The entry fee is NZ$100 + GST per wine. An invoice with payment instructions will be emailed to entrants by 1st July.

The 50 top-ranked wines under $25 will be selected for the five-week nationwide New World Wine Awards promotion. Entry requirements are:

• The wine must retail under $25. If the wine’s normal retail price is under $25 in either New World North Island or New World South Island then the wine is eligible for entry. If the wine isn’t stocked in New World the normal recommended retail price (NOT promotional price) must be under $25.

• The wine must have the minimum volume requirement as shown on the Class Schedule.

• Wine from any country can be entered.

o Overseas wineries must have New Zealand representation and distribution.
o Wines from overseas must have the minimum volume requirement landed, out of the port and available for dispatch from the distributors DC by Friday 30 August..

• The wine must be supplied to Foodstuffs DC in outers of 6 bottles if selected for the Top 50.

• The wine must be made solely from grapes.

We accept New Zealand wines that retail over $25 into the competition. While they are not eligible for the Top 50 they’ll receive the full evaluation by the judging panel and you’ll be sent the judges’ summary notes and a report showing how the wine fared within the class.  

Over $25 wines are not eligible to carry New World Wine Awards medal stickers (the New World Wine Awards medal stickers only apply to under $25 wines). There is no guarantee that over $25 wines will be ranged or stocked in New World stores. 

Note that only wines over $25 from NEW ZEALAND are accepted. 

Entries will be confirmed by email on Monday 24 June. This communication will include instructions for sending sample bottles and labels to be printed to apply to sample bottles.  

Sample bottles must be received by Friday 12 July. Late samples can be accepted until Thursday 25 July by arrangement. 

• For wine packaged in 750ml or 375ml bottles, four sample bottles are required for judging.  

• For wine packaged in cans or bottles less than 375ml, 12 samples are required for judging.  

For more detail around non-vintage wines, lot numbers, packaging formats, temporary labels, second bottling and closures, please refer to points 30-42 in the T&Cs.

Entries are judged using a blind identification system and randomised repours to ensure every wine is treated equally. Wines are scored on the 100-point system and medals are awarded as appropriate: Gold 95 points and over (95+), Silver 90 to 94 points, Bronze 85 to 89 points. Top scoring wines are then randomised and re-tasted and ranked by the senior judges, and the top ranked wines go into the Top 50 selection. 

Wines are judged in vintage order, younger before older. The Chief Steward, Jo Gear, ensures judges don’t score any of their own wines entered into the competition.  

To avoid unintentional bias, over $25 wines are judged within their varietal class alongside the under $25 entries, and judges are not made aware of the price bracket of any entry. 

All results will be confirmed by email to the entrant’s email address on Monday 5 August 2024. All results are confidential and embargoed until the public embargo is lifted. The dates of lifting the public embargo for the New World Wine Awards will be confirmed by email from the Competition Director. 

The Competition Director will email the suppliers of the 50 top-scoring wines on Monday 5 August with the good news!  

• If your under $25 wine has been ranked highly and selected for the Top 50, you’ll be asked to confirm your wine meets the entry criteria listed above. You’ll have until midday Wednesday 7 August to confirm these points. If everything stacks up, you’re in the Top 50 nationwide New World Wine Awards promotion! Foodstuffs will guide you through the process step by step. 

As the competition uses the 100-point judging scale, all wines scoring 85 and above (Bronze, Silver, Gold) will be given their medals and judges comments, these can be used to market your wines domestically and overseas.   

In addition, you’ll receive a medal certificate and a roll of 1,000 medal stickers for each Gold and Silver medal wine, additional medal stickers and Bronze medal stickers are available to purchase. We strongly recommend you use your medal stickers to leverage the New World Wine Awards promotional activity to sell your great value, great quality wines.