The Awatere Valley.
A smaller, cooler pocket of Marlborough, pushed up out of the ocean by earthquakes, and carved out by ancient glaciers.
Our mountain
& river.
Our mountain Tapuae-o-Uenuku looms over us from the west, feeding the relentless Awatere River as it scours a path through the heart of the valley to the Pacific Ocean, sculpting boulders and leaving deep, rocky banks in its wake.
Stonier, drier, cooler, windier.
than Marlborough’s main Wairau Valley.
Our vines plunge their roots deep and wide in their flinty, unforgiving beds, building flavour, intensity and minerality.
Depleted of moisture by the Richmond Ranges, the Wither Hills and the Vernon Range, the Awatere Valley forces vines to prioritse fruit over foliage and quality over quantity.
A long, slow ripening season delivers elegance and layers of character.
Persistent winds mean lower yields and thicker skins – and more structured, textural, concentrated wines.
The Awatere Valley’s terroir conspires to produce distinctive, complex, intriguing wines.
The omnipresent Pacific ocean.
Brings cool currents and winds from Antarctica, cooling the valley.
The best parcels & oldest vines.
‘The Favourite’ Vineyard was chosen for us by the sheep who preferred to graze this pocket of sunshine and sweet pasture. Those same clay soils are to thank for our silky Pinot Noir.
Nestled into the river, our terraced Home Vineyards are home to our original plantings from 1986. They are vines that have really settled into our stony soils. It’s that vine age that gives those layers of flavour and depth to our wines.