Our wine regions
Location is everything to us. The region must be right, and within that region we seek out superior vineyard sites and carefully select only those grape varietals that exhibit a truly great expression of the local terroir.
Marlborough
It has been said that there is no wine anywhere in the world that tastes like the wine of Marlborough – the balance of extraordinary purity and intensity of flavours set around impressive aromas, distinctive fruit characteristics and appealing balanced acidity is superb.
The secret to these distinctively exquisite wines lies in a magical synergy of climate and soil, and in our desire to express this unique terroir. Ours is a diverse landscape of spectacular natural beauty and bounty, with Marlborough’s broad alluvial plain stretching from the coastline to gradually rise into narrow valleys with favourable northerly aspects.
Ancient Māori hunted moa and cultivated kumara here. Early European settlers established New Zealand’s pastoral industry on the fertile rolling downs of the river valleys. And in 1873, pioneering Scottish farmer and grape grower David Herd planted Marlborough’s first vineyard, though it was to be another 100 years before Marlborough’s viticulture developed to a commercial scale.
Today Marlborough is recognised as one of the premium wine regions of the world, drawing international acclaim that far outweighs its size. Winemakers embrace this small, yet geographically diverse region, exploring the nuances offered by its landscape to craft exhilarating flavours in many different wine styles.
Our Marlborough Wines
Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s oldest and second largest wine region with beginnings in 1851. It is the largest premium red wine producing region in the country.
Located at 39.4° South (the same as Madrid in the North), Hawke’s Bay is one of the hottest and sunniest areas of New Zealand. A maritime climate, free draining soil types with natural low fertility, prevailing hot dry north westerly winds, low rainfall and a long growing season provide for a range of vineyard sites suitable for a diversity of varietals.
Combining new world fruit flavours with old world structure, Hawke’s Bay red wines are unique and elegant. They are competitive in quality to world class red wines everywhere and competitive in price against the ultra premium wines of the world. History, consistency, diversity and innovation continue to provide the foundation for Hawke’s Bay’s reputation as a quality producer of world class wines.
Hawke’s Bay also has one of the highest percentage of Sustainable Winegrowing NZ (SWNZ) accredited wineries in the country. Of the 229 vineyards in the region, 95.8% are SWNZ accredited. Hawke’s Bay is committed to this independently audited sustainability programme and these numbers are increasing.
Our Hawke’s Bay Wines
