Established in 2004, Greystone draws its name from the steep and unique limestone clay hills in Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. With the aim of making exceptional wines from its unique terroir, since 2014, Greystone has managed its 33-hectare vineyard organically. The team are continually searching for new ways to fully reflect the terroir, including vineyard ferments, which capture the vines’ wild yeasts in situ, while exposing the wine to the elements – the ultimate in natural winemaking?
For a relatively young wine company, Greystone has twice won Decanter trophies for Best Pinot Noir as well as earnin the ranking of Top New Zealand Chardonnay in 2018. More recently, Greystone was Raymond Chan’s 2018 Winery of the Year and winemaker, Dom Maxwell, was named 2018 New Zealand Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine.
Waipara Springs Winery is located in the heart of the Waipara Valley, just a 45 minute drive north of Christchurch in the South Island. Planted in the early 1980s and now covering some 26ha, the vineyard contains some of the oldest own-rooted Mendoza clone Chardonnay in New Zealand, providing the entirely estate-grown wines with a depth and intensity that only old vines can produce.
The Waipara Springs Estate Vineyard from which Premo wines are solely sourced has a terroir that renders wines totally unique. Derived from a prehistoric lake bed at the centre of the Waipara Valley floor the vineyard soils are a rich blend of clay and limestone. With vines sheltered from the prevailing easterly winds by the Teviotdale range, high midsummer heat combined with relatively low rainfall during the growing season and cold nights during harvest provide near perfect conditions for high quality fruit.
Larry McKenna founded Escarpment in 1999 and proceeded to build a phenomenal reputation as the ‘Prince of Pinot’ crafting an impressive array of highly regarded wines. He continued to work closely with Australian wine estate Torbreck, who purchased the estate in 2019, to ensure the continued success of the wines before handing over his legacy to the now head winemaker, Tim Bourne (pictured above).
The vineyards are sited above a natural escarpment sitting above the Huarangarua River on ancient gravels. Overlooking them are the Aorangi Ranges where Maori legend has it that the Polynesian voyager Kupe abandoned 3 canoes. The upturned canoes are still clearly visible, silhouetted along the top of the ridge, and Kupe’s image takes pride of place on every Escarpment label. Escarpment is registered as a Sustainable NZ producer and is currently following a five-year plan to become organically certified.
With degrees in horticulture from the University of Bath, Steve Pellett and Bridget Ennals set off, in true intrepid explorer mode, to travel through Africa then back to the UK to work as fruit technologists. However the beauty of Marlborough’s spectacular Awatere Valley captured their hearts, and lead to the creation of Stanley Estate in 2003. Situated at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, under the cool gaze of Mount Tapuae-O-Uenuku (the footprint of the rainbow), the estate takes its name from the ‘Stanley Rover’ in which Steve and Bridget travelled through Africa.
Over ten years Stanley Estates has made a big name for themselves, winning numerous major awards both domestically and internationally. Their dedication to, and connection with the land in which they work is obvious, indeed they signed up early to the NZ Sustainable Winegrowing programme, as they saw this as being the basis and philosophy of their vineyard practices.
In 2020, Stanley Estates was purchased by the family-owned Lake Road Wines in Gisborne. Steve Pellett has become a ‘grower’ for Stanley, continuing to supply grapes to new owners, brothers Steven and Andrew Blampied. Winemaker Eveline Fraser remains at the helm, ensuring consistency in the wines that are frequently acknowledged within the industry and embraced by the wine-loving public worldwide.
Owned by Stephen and Thea Farquharson and Stephen’s sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Geoff Bews, who are all committed to producing top quality grapes and wine, Wooing Tree Estate is a truly family-owned and -run business. Originally from farming backgrounds in North Otago and more recently working in IT both in Wellington and overseas, they all came back to Cromwell (Central Otago) to run the vineyard at the end of 2004 in time for their first vintage in 2005.
The estate is so named after The Wooing Tree, a local landmark that sits prominently in the middle of the vineyard. It has long been a place for locals to woo their lovers, and if it could talk, would have many a story to tell! These days it is not quite the private spot it once was, but they still have plenty of visitors proposing marriage and even getting married under the beautiful iconic tree, amidst the vines.
