Wine Regions

Akarua

Akarua was established by the Skeggs family in 1996, amongst the first daring pioneers of the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago. We now have further vineyards nestled underneath the starkly dramatic Pisa Ranges, and it is here we are pursuing certified organic farming. We now harvest – 90% of which is pinot noir – in 88 separate parcels, committed to the diversity of our fragile desert mountain vineyards. Every Autumn we support our local community with the Akarua Arrowtown Festival, and profits are reinvested into future-reaching conservational projects. We value progression, but remain quietly steadfast about what still drives us today – family, our people and our place.

Akitu

Set in the heart of Central Otago’s Upper Clutha basin, our 12-hectare vineyard sits alone at 380 metres above sea level on a stunning north facing slope which hides a special geology.

We are obsessively dedicated to the production of exceptional Pinot noir, in fact it’s all we grow. We planted our vines in 2002 and patiently tended them before launching akitu in 2012.

An organic farming transition is under way which will allow this special place to speak even more confidently through our wines. Our family has been in this valley since 1958 – we’re here to contribute as this is where we belong.

Allan Scott

Allan Scott is one of the true pioneers and a name synonymous with New Zealand’s acclaimed Marlborough region. Allan along with wife Catherine founded the Allan Scott Family Winemakers label in 1990 and quickly became a household brand name in the highly competitive wine industry. Today Allan, Catherine and the entire family of Victoria, Joshua and Sara head up the production and marketing management of the company with a highly skilled operational team. The family produces a range of aromatic wines especially well suited to the region’s gravelly soils and sunny climate.

Amisfield

Amisfield was established in 1988 and is a Central Otago based specialist producer of Pinot Noir and aromatic white wines, sourced from fruit grown on their Single Vineyard Estate, situated beneath the glacially sculptured Pisa mountain range.
Vineyards are managed holistically through organic practices focused around nurturing Amisfield’s unique soils, vines and habitats – this combined with a rugged inland location and an extreme semi-continental climate, yields wines of remarkable purity, intensity and vibrancy.

Astrolabe

Astrolabe is owned and operated by winemaker Simon Waghorn and his family in Marlborough, New Zealand. We choose to live and work in Marlborough because we think the grapes here are the best in the world. We source our fruit from diverse microclimates and soils, including limestone. Our growers live on their land and have a commitment and relationship with their land which reflects a respect for the natural environment within which they live and work. At Astrolabe Farm, our home vineyard, we practise organics, dry farm and are working on restoring natural waterways and expanding our composting initiative.

Ata Rangi

Ata Rangi, meaning “dawn sky” or “new beginning” in Maori, is a small producer in Martinborough, located at the southern end of New Zealand’s North Island. Our founder, Clive Paton, is one of the country’s pioneers of Pinot Noir, planting his first vines on the stony terrace in 1980. The vineyard and winemaking team, led by Helen Masters, focuses on organic practices and traditional techniques. We combine a passion for conservation with a deep respect for the land. Restoration and regeneration of native flora and fauna is a driving force, engaging our team and wider community in making a tangible and meaningful difference to our local landscape.

Black Estate

Brancott Estate

Since planting Marlborough’s first Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in 1975, Brancott Estate has crafted wines that reflect the land and express what nature provides.
We have always had an eye on the future, advocating sustainability across all aspects of the business. As a founding member of SWNZ, Brancott Estate continues to exceed the program’s accreditation requirements.
Believing we can create a positive impact beyond our vineyard boundaries, to date Brancott Estate has raised over half a million dollars for The Marlborough Falcon Trust, helping to ensure the ongoing survival of New Zealand’s native Karearea; and have partnered with Conservation Volunteers providing employee time and resources to regenerate Marlborough’s Para Wetland and enhance biodiversity.

Burn Cottage Vineyard

We came about from a passion and love for Pinot Noir, in many ways a bit of fortuitous timing, and a gut feeling about this special site in Central Otago. The natural amphitheatre sits low under the Pisa Mountain Range which shapes our microclimate, and our land was carved out by the gentle ebb and flow of the Clutha and Kawarau rivers. Burn Cottage Vineyard started out in 2002, and from inception has been farmed with Biodynamic methods to care for the vineyard and its surrounds for the future. Calling this dramatically beautiful region home means our wine talks of place, climate, geology and most importantly of the people that make everything possible.

Carrick Wines

At Carrick we are committed to producing wines that speak of our unique home in Bannockburn, Central Otago. To express this beautiful place, we make wines using only hand-picked, organically certified, estate grown fruit, made with 100% indigenous yeast and minimal winery additions. Established in 1993, Carrick has always been about place. The name derives from the gold mining town and the mountain range to which Carrick looks. The majority of what we make is Pinot Noir, the rest is whites – Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.

Catalina Sounds

Based at our Sound of White vineyard in Marlborough’s Waihopai Valley, Catalina Sounds pays homage to New Zealand’s famous and largest war bird, the Catalina, which played a critical role during and after World War II. At Catalina Sounds we draw inspiration for our wines from these graceful, unique flying boats and the respect they garner throughout the world. Our philosophy is focussed upon creating wines of great honesty and purity whilst also incorporating subtle texture and complexity.

Chard Farm

Rob Hay and Gerdi Schumann, planted their vineyard on a sliver of land perched high above the Kawarau River on the flanks of the Remarkable mountain range, Queenstown in 1986. Rob moved south to establish the pioneering winery believing that Central held something special for grape growing. These days the winery owns a further 6 estate vineyards in Cromwell – Lowburn. The properties are all farmed with an ethos of low impact and good practice using sustainable methods and organics on select blocks. Having been established for over 30 years the family owned company has deep roots in its community through a broad range of support and commitments, notably of which has been Gerdi’s 20+ year stewardship of the Arrowtown Pre-School.

Clos Henri

For the past 10 generations, our family has committed to reveal the expression of our place – heart and soul – in our village of Chavignol in Sancerre, France. This philosophy has grown into the thirst to discover a new place, one we could also call home, a land we would nurture to express Pinot Noir through the singularity of new soils. We found it here in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. We baptised it Clos Henri. We have set new roots in this land we feel empowered by. – The Bourgeois Family

Cloudy Bay (Te Wahi)

Cloudy Bay, founded in 1985 by David Hohnen, was one of Marlborough first wineries and often credited with putting New Zealand on the global wine map. David’s vision was to create wines that were expressive of their terroir and to always put quality at the heart of every decision. We feel a great responsibility to guard this legacy, believing that it is important to leave something of true value to the next generation – in terms of the wines, the vines, the brand and the land.

Corofin

Corofin is the artisan winemaking project of Mike and Anna Paterson, which evolved to tell the story of some pretty special Marlborough Pinot sites. It has become a collaboration with farmers whose vineyards have and will produce fruit that acts as a beacon of individual terroir. The hope with all Corofin wines is to transmit a sense of place and season first, over fruit intensity or winemaking ambition.

Craggy Range

Decibel Wines

After a stint in the music industry and working in his family’s historic establishment, McCrossen’s Tavern in Philadelphia, Daniel Brennan discovered Martinborough Pinot Noir.  Impacted by the purity of fruit and complexity of these wines, Daniel uprooted his life and moved, penniless but full of passion to study winemaking in New Zealand.  In the past 13 years cultivating Whanaungatanga Daniel has worked for and with some of NZ’s top producers while developing his own wines under the Decibel and Testify labels. With a massive awareness of kaitiakitanga and the future he wants to leave for his daughter, his turangawaewae is next to his growers where they work to transition their vineyards to organics.

Dog Point Vineyard

Dog Point Vineyard is located at the confluence of the Brancott and Omaka Valleys in Marlborough and is one of the oldest privately established vineyards in the region.
With a hands-off approach to winemaking, all fruit is from hand-picked, and low cropped vines, producing a bright perfumed, supple expression of pinot noir from clay hill slopes.
We are the largest Biogro certified organic vineyard area in New Zealand. Our organic focus flows throughout the property with native bush, wetlands, pasture, beehives, walking tracks, orchard and vegetable gardens. This philosophy is about creating a healthy community and preserving the land for future generations.

Domain Road Vineyard

Domain Road has two vineyards located on Felton Road and Domain Road, Bannockburn, Central Otago.

Originally drawn to the area because of Central Otago’s legendry hot summers, Graeme and Gillian Crosbie found it also to be an ideal place to grow grapes. The unique vineyard microclimates produce high quality Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc wines.

Domain Road wine are grown and crafted with a dedication to excellence and a traditional hands-on approach. We have a philosophy of better, not bigger.

Domaine-Thomson

Dry River Wines

At Dry River Wines we aim to bottle a blend of our unique vision and nature’s creativity. This approach was initiated by Dr. Neil McCallum who, together with his partner Dawn, first planted our vines in the gravelly Martinborough Terrace soils in 1979. The expression of individuality has always been a focal point for our wine, a combination of the classic and organic farming principles we follow and the winemaking practices we continue to develop. Dry River’s team of six is small but not isolated: with the support of the Robertson family, we strive not just to produce the best wine but to promote the region’s capabilities, because our strength and success is inextricably tied to that of our community.

Escarpment

At Escarpment, we have created an expression of NZ Pinot Noir which has evolved over 35 years of dedication to the variety. It has been sculpted by Tim Bourne and Larry McKenna from fruit entirely originating from Martinborough vineyards. We are interested in the structure, complexity and fruit expression of our wines and how they are pronounced from single sites. Our future is to fashion wines of great complexity and elegance from our organic status vineyards.

Felton Road

Felton Road farm four estate vineyards in the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago and has employed a strict biodynamic regime (Demeter & BioGro certified) since 2002. Winemaking is minimalist; each lot being encouraged to express its individual strengths and largely free from human interference. The resulting wines are statements of place and weather, each distinct, reflecting the seasons and the soils of their respective vineyard site. A deep respect for the land has formed since planting began in 1992 with non-vineyard areas devoted to native reforestation, farming livestock and many other sustainability initiatives. Felton Road has a formidable worldwide reputation and its refined and harmonious Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Rieslings can be found in over 40 countries.

Framingham

We make wine by our own rules
We’re big believers in doing what you love. So when it comes to making wine, we just make wine that we ourselves want to drink.
We love aromatic styled wines to accompany food. And over the years, our Framingham range has grown with a strong tradition of winemaking for balance, texture and complexity.
By combining small batches of fruit from different parts of the vineyard, we build depth of flavour and texture. Our place is at 19 Conder’s Bend Road, in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. Here we believe in restoring the balance on our organic vineyard.
We want to make quality wines for years to come. But not at the expense of the land.
We are a family-owned Sogrape company.

Fromm Winery

FROMM is an organic boutique winery, family owned in the heart of Marlborough.

Our philosophy places terroir over technology, and grape quality over quantity. We are dedicated to producing intense, concentrated wines.
All FROMM wines have an uncompromising emphasis on texture and drinkability. We carefully regulate crop size, follow organic principles and are committed to sustainable viticulture. We feel that to make great wines, we need to start with organically grown grapes.

Gibbston Valley Wines

A maelstrom of creativity and vineyard diversity and has seen a blossoming of Gibbston Valley’s production. Where there was one in 1987, there are now eight Pinot Noirs given full voice. Established mature vineyards mark the Gibbston subregion; high altitude Bendigo sites the rest. Lo fi winemaking, slavish devotion and avid interest in the product has kept the team rapacious. Diversity, we say, is expression, not confusion. Or maybe both.

Giesen

“From their first vintage in 1984, walking to their own tried and true beat, the three Giesen Brothers have always created great wines. A passion for Pinot drove Theo, Alex and Marcel to invest in two unique, organically farmed vineyard sites in Marlborough that produce truly World Class Pinot Noir. Clayvin and Ridge vineyards represent our Pinot Noir journey, our expression of the land, our Marlborough heritage and our Giesen family spirit. Join us on our journey”.

Gladstone Vineyard

Gladstone Vineyard was planted in 1986, in the central sub-region of the Wairarapa valley. The region is home to the first plantings of Pinot Noir in New Zealand. Our vineyards are planted along the river terraces of the Ruamanhanga River which offers a semi-maritime microclimate with long sunlight hours. These optimal grape ripening conditions paired with a respect for the land has championed a winemaking style that expresses the best of the region.

Grasshopper Rock

Grasshopper Rock was established by five families in 2003. In a dramatic Central Otago landscape of mountains and semi-arid basins our vines occupy a small 10-hectare site dedicated to growing pinot noir. Today, Grasshopper Rock is a distinguished single vineyard expression of pinot noir. Each vintage carries a message about this distinctive site and the weather patterns of the year.

Greystone

Greystone is an organic farm on the limestone hills of North Canterbury. The Thomas family converted a farm into 40 hectares of vines in 2004, with a few sheep to help with the weeding. Dom Maxwell, winemaker, has been a pioneer in fermenting outside in the specific rows where the grapes are grown. Through destemming outside, wild ferments in the vineyard, and organic viticulture we hope to share the beauty of where we live and grow.

The Elder Pinot

The Elder Pinot is a small Martinborough wine producer, formed in 2010, between the Hanson and Elder families. Our philosophy is to produce limited quantities of single vineyard wines from the best vintages, with an emphasis on the elegant, savoury characteristics and structure of great pinots. Located at the Southern end of the Te Muna Valley, the vineyard is operated on organic principles, and following sustainable practices for the long-term care of our land.

Zephyr

The name Zephyr characterises the prevailing wind that complements Marlborough’s unique ripening season. Zephyr wines embrace the dynamic spirit of the Glover family and the lively aromatics of the organically farmed estate vineyards in the Dillon’s Point sub-region. The Glover family vineyards, planted in 1985 alongside the meandering Opaoa River, have inspired the family’s passion for wine. Pinot Noir is a personal project for Ben Glover – Owner/Winemaker; thus conveying a unique sense of place and space stimulating family expression.