The Wineries
If your setting out to win the grand prize of a bottle from the participating wineries in Pinot Noir NZ, then you might want to know who are these wineries and where can you sample their wares in The Summer of Pinot
The majority of Akarua’s 100 hectares of vineyards are located in the prestigious Bannockburn sub-region in Central Otago. Established in 1996 when founder Sir Clifford Skeggs planted the first vines, Akarua is now the largest family owned winery in the region. Focused on producing world class pinot noir and sparkling wines at their own purpose built winery, the continued accolades and attention are a testament to the stunning quality of their wines.
Allan Scott - Available at Fork & Brewer
Allan Scott is one of the true pioneers and a name synonymous with New Zealand’s acclaimed Marlborough region. Located on Jackson’s Road, Marlborough surrounded by 80 hectares of premium vineyards, Allan along with wife Catherine founded the Allan Scott Family Winemakers label in 1990 quickly becoming a household brand name in the highly competitive wine industry. Today the entire family are involved heading up the production and marketing management of the company with a highly skilled operational team.
Amisfield LP - Available at Dockside and Basque
Amisfield was established in 1988, we are a specialist producer of pinot noir and aromatic white wines created from fruit grown on our estate vineyard beneath the Pisa Mountain range in the Cromwell Basin. Our privately owned company’s 200ha property, once a prominent high country merino station, is one of the largest single vineyard estates in the region. Over 80ha is currently planted with the majority of the vines being over ten years old.
Ata Rangi Vineyard - Available at Dockside Restaurant and The Bresolin
Ata Rangi is a small New Zealand winery with an enviable international reputation for Pinot Noir. It is owned and managed by a family trio – Clive Paton, wife Phyll and Clive’s sister Ali. Clive planted the first vines on a small, stony sheep paddock at the edge of the Martinborough village in 1980 as one of a handful of people who pioneered winegrowing in the area.
Bell Hill Vineyard - Available at Whitebait
Bell Hill, so named for its shape as viewed from the south, is an old lime quarry steeped in natural history. The two hectare vineyard uses Burgundian vineyard architecture with a high plant density of 9,090 to 11,363 vines/ha. Drawn by the pure, chalky limestone soils and calcareous clays, we seek to reflect the characteristic expression of our site and soil in the wines we make, looking for consistent quality, fruit concentration and expression of terroir.
Big Sky Wines - Available at Olive and Fratelli
We started Big Sky Wines in 2005. We had returned to New Zealand from living in France, and we knew the time was right to pursue our long-held ambition – to make world class, hand crafted wines, that give true expression to the character of their place. We were drawn to the Te Muna valley. It’s a very special place, ideal for growing Pinot Noir — we think one of the best in the world.
Black Estate - Available at Egmont St. Eatery, Shepherd, Chow, Library, Avida and Husk
Black Estate is a remarkable place for wine – three hillside vineyards on clay and limestone soils in North Canterbury. We’re family owned and operated. Nicholas Brown oversees the grape growing and makes the wine and Pen his wife manages the business. Viticulture is intense, organic and hands on and our winemaking is gentle and guiding. We want to make wines that are true to their individual site – wines with natural balance, structure and character.
Carrick - Available at Zibibbo, Ortega Fish Shack, Logan Brown, Avida and Shed 5
We sit firmly in the old County Riding of Carrick in Bannockburn, Central Otago. Our vines have toiled away in our glacial schist soils for over 20 years, producing estate grown wines of precision and texture. From 2008 we have maintained an organic viticulture and winemaking regime, certified through BioGroNZ. Our wines are all produced in our on-site winery and mature gracefully in the underground cellar. They reflect the place where they are grown and made.
Clos Henri Vineyard - Available at Cuckoo Cocktail Emporium, Field & Green, Ancestral and The Thistle Inn
Nestled under the southern foothills of Marlborough’s Wairau Valley, Clos Henri Vineyard is organically farmed by the famous Sancerre winegrowing family of Henri Bourgeois.
Gathering 10 generations of know-how with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, the family uses the best of French and New World winegrowing techniques. Clos Henri Vineyard captures the essence of Marlborough’s intense character from its three different soil types and reveals the identity of its unique terroir.
Clos Marguerite - Available at Pravda Cafe
Clearly a very small vineyard by NZ standard. Committed to create unique, age-worthy wines, Marguerite and Jean-Charles grow their fruit on narrowly spaced rows of manicured vines. Handpicked, the grapes are crushed in the onsite gravity-fed winery. The resulting wines are a true reflection of the terroir, producing subtle yet intense, food-driven styles. The name refers to this “enclosed” and all-inclusive wine-growing concept.
Coney Wines - Available at Olive and Fratelli
Coney Wines is all about quality… and family. Everything from the vineyard to the winery to the restaurant is done by hand, and done by a Coney hand at that. Tim, Margaret and daughter Lisa work together to ensure that only the highest quality product makes it to your mouth! And so the old-fashioned notion that small is beautiful, that honest sweat produces happiness turns out to be our guiding principle.
Decibel Wines - Available at HUSK and Hillside Kitchen & Cellar
Daniel Patrick Brennan wandered through Europe and America with a band of musicians before discovering Martinborough Pinot Noir while docked at his family’s restaurant in Philadelphia. He set sail again to New Zealand where he studied a new craft, with new instruments. Decibel wines are now sent on ships around the world and the journey never ends.
Escarpment Vineyard - Available Dockside and Beach Babylon
Escarpment’s aim is simple: to continually produce the very best of tomorrow’s definitive New World wines. “Complexity” “texture” and “structure” are key words. Under Larry McKenna’s leadership the team aims to reward wine lovers with progressive and suggestive wines that encourage them to venture to the edge of wine appreciation. Escarpment offer three ranges of Pinot Noir. The Single Vineyard Insight Series, Escarpment district blend and The Edge Pinot Noir.
Folding Hill - Available at Dockside
At Folding Hill our approach to winemaking is based on the traditional philosophy and practices of the ‘Old World’. We believe that hand picking optimally ripe fruit and then gently guiding it through vinification with as little intervention as possible allows us to produce elegant wines with flavour and structure that authentically reflect the special place they come from – wines that really are “Handmade from Central Otago”.
Fromm Winery - Available at The Bresonlin
Fromm Winery was founded in 1992 by Georg Fromm, a fifth generation Swiss grape grower and winemaker. Georg’s European viticultural practices and ideals are still carried on in the vineyards today. Fromm Winery prides itself on making dense, concentrated wines of great authenticity, purity, and balance. Fromm has built a reputation as one of New Zealand’s top wine producers. The Winery is also fully certified organic.
Gibbston Valley Winery - Available at Grill Meats Beer and Southern Cross Garden Bar
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.
Greywacke - Available at Shed 5
Named after New Zealand’s prolific bedrock, Greywacke (pron. Greywacky) is the personal venture of Kevin Judd, whose career is intrinsically linked with the global profile of NZ wine. Sourcing prime organically farmed fruit from mature hillside vineyards in the Southern Valleys, the greywacke team use low-intervention winemaking to create pinot noir hallmarked by its fragrance, concentration and individuality. Kevin’s signature vineyard photographs provide the unmistakable identity of the Greywacke range – the synthesis of his dual passions.
Johner Estate - Available at Field & Green
Our 25 hectare block was purchased In Gladstone just north of Martinborough in 2001. Mainly planted with Pinot Noir & the balance in classic varietals. We believe that the final wine quality is influenced by the site & soil management. We produce handcrafted distinctive styles with the emphasis on traditional Burgundian wine making techniques.
Jules Taylor Wines - Available at Tokeyo
You can’t have a wine label named Jules Taylor without having a Jules Taylor. Jules is the eponymous winemaker, the dreamer, the motivator and godmother to several hundred thousand little grapes. Born and bred Marlburian, Jules has seen the transformation that the wine industry brought to the region and with this life long association she brings to her winemaking an intimate understanding of the interplay between the grape and Marlborough’s variety of climates and soils.
Julicher Estate - Available at Chow, Library Bar and Southern Cross Garden Bar
Julicher Estate is a 15 hectare vineyard on Te Muna Road Martinborough, producing around 5 thousand cases of wine per year. Winning three Champion Wine of the Show Trophies since 2007 and numerous other awards for Pinot Noir, Wim Julicher says success is due to location on Te Muna Road, ideal terroir, and a talented winemaker. With a Dutch work ethic for perfection, Wim prides himself on being meticulous in everything he does on the vineyard.
Mahi is a relatively small Marlborough winery with a focus on single vineyard wines to show the diversity of the region. Aiming at subtle, textural and complex wines by messing around with the grapes as little as possible, we work with great growers, utilise lots of hand-picking, sorting and wild ferments to help achieve this. An excellent team of wine-loving staff and vintage crew continue to inspire.
Martinborough Vineyard - Available at Zibibbo and One80
Established in 1980 with the objective of producing world class wines, Martinborough Vineyard is one of the pioneers of Pinot Noir in both Martinborough and New Zealand.
With some of the country’s oldest vines, we are proud to create Pinot Noirs that speak of our special place and show great depth, complexity, and elegance. Our philosophy is “Handcrafted Excellence in Wine”, and over the years we are proud to have stayed small, consistent and quality driven.
Maude Wines - Available at Shed 5, Egmont St. Eatery and The Bresolin
Maude is a family owned wine company created by husband and wife winemaking team, Dan & Sarah-Kate Dineen, producing Maude and Mt Maude wines from their winery in beautiful Wanaka, Central Otago.
The Mt Maude wines are all single vineyard expressions from our flagship 23 year old Wanaka family estate which lies on the steep north-facing slopes of the picturesque Maungawera Valley, looking up at the mountain from which it takes its name.
Misha’s Vineyard - Available at One80
Misha’s Vineyard is spectacularly located on Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The sun drenched north-west facing terraces of the 57 hectare estate provide optimal conditions for producing world-class Pinot Noir and aromatic whites. Andy & Misha Wilkinson established the vineyard in 2004 with a ‘no compromise’ philosophy requiring exacting viticulture, hand-picking and considerate winemaking with Olly Masters as winemaker. Named one of New Zealand’s Top 20 Wine Producers by Decanter (UK).
Mount Edward - Available at Whitebait, Boulcott Street Bistro, The Bresolin and Logan Brown
The majestic mountains and lakes of the Southern Alps are home to Mount Edward. Our winery, situated in Gibbston, just east of Queenstown, has its vineyards amongst the foothills of the Pisa Range and on the banks of the Kawerau river in Bannockburn. Mount Edward, part of the Central Otago wine community since 1998, is BioGro certified organic with this philosophy at its heart. Owned and managed by the Buchanan and Forsyth families since 2004, our winemakers Anna Riederer and Duncan Forsyth craft wines that are textural, restrained, and speak of our place here in Central Otago.
Mt Difficulty Wines - Available at Fork & Brewer and One80
Established in 1992, Mt Difficulty owns some of the oldest vineyards in the Bannockburn region of Central Otago, New Zealand. This unique area of extremes is ideally suited to crafting wines that speak with a sense of place. Our philosophy combines ethical viticulture with minimal intervention allowing the wine to express its personality and reflect its home
Murdoch James Estate - Available at Avida Bar
For us, it started when founder Roger Fraser worked on a friend’s vineyard in his College holidays. From there, Murdoch James Estate was born in 1986. Starting with just himself, wife Jill and 3 hectares of land, today there are 4 family members involved, plus 4 extended family, and the land under vines is 50 hectares. Our family values of integrity, hard work, teamwork and love for our land are intertwined in all we do.
Nanny Goat Vineyard - Available at Avida Bar
Nanny Goat Vineyard is named after the wild goats that roam the mountainous terrain of the Central Otago – a region of climatic extremes with typically hot summers, short autumns and bitterly cold winters – challenging conditions for producing world class cool climate wines. Since 2005 Nanny Goat Vineyard focused solely on producing premium Central Otago Pinot Noir. 2012 heralded the addition– Chardonnay and Syrah, along with the highly successful inaugural release of our ‘Super Nanny’ Pinot Noir.
Nevis Bluff Wines - Available at Hippopotamus and Pravda Cafe
Nevis Bluff wines are sourced from the L’Attitude Vineyard in the Pisa sub-region of Central Otago; a region famed for long, hot summer days and cool nights. A slow ripening period produces intense fruit flavours, resulting in wines with rich aromatics, concentrated complexity and understated elegance. It is this unique terroir and philosophy to select only premium grapes, combined with a natural winemaking approach that produces these exceptional wines.
Palliser Estate Wines - Available at The Thistle Inn
Palliser Estate in Martinborough is a boutique vineyard with an international outlook. For over two decades our people have been looking after our corner of New Zealand, producing quality wine for the world to enjoy. Palliser Estate is a leading winery in the ultra premium grape-growing region of Martinborough. The Palliser Estate and Pencarrow labels are consistently great wines – a fact to be celebrated. We manage the whole winemaking process here on the estate, to produce wine that continues to taste great.
Pegasus Bay - Available at Logan Brown
Pegasus Bay is owned and operated by the Donaldson’s, Pioneers of the Canterbury wine industry. Ivan and Christine established the vineyard in 1985, and today Ivan oversees viticulture, Christine curates the breathtaking gardens, Eldest son Matthew is winemaker, Edward is marketing manager while his wife Belinda managers the winery restaurant, and youngest son Paul is GM. 12 different clones of Pinot Noir represent a third of the plantings with most now 30 years of age.
Pyramid Valley Vineyards - Available at Charley Noble
After 15 years of extensively travelling the world, Mike and Claudia Weersing finally found their Pyramid Valley site in North Canterbury New Zealand. The home vineyard was established biodynamcially in 1999 and has been planted in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on scarp slopes, at a density of 10,000-12,000 vines per hectare. “Every gesture made in the vineyard and winery, is a summons to this spirit of place. Biodynamics, hand-based viticulture, low yields, natural winemaking – these are some of the means we’ve adopted better to record and transmit this voice”.
Rippon - Available at Charley Noble and Ancestral
Rippon is a singular piece of land on the shores of Lake Wanaka, Central Otago. The Mills family has been farming Rippon for over 100 years and growing wine since 1982 and the focus for all who live and work here is to do justice to this remarkable piece of land and keep it alive for the generations to come.
Schubert Wines - Available at Whitebait, Logan Brown and Grill Meats Beer
A world search, which also included France, Germany, North and South America as well as Australia for the ideal area with perfect conditions for viticulture, especially for Pinot Noir, brought Kai Schubert and Marion Deimling, graduates of the German Viticulture and Oenology University in Geisenheim to the Wairarapa, New Zealand. Schubert vineyards are closely planted and the unique climate produces low yields and internationally award winning wines with intense and complex character; predominantly exported to currently 36 countries.
Seresin Estate - Available at Sterling, Chow and Hillside Kitchen
Founded in 1992 by cinematographer Michael Seresin, Seresin Estate has been farmed organically since 1994 and has operated under 100% biodynamic principals since 2006. The vines are hand-tended and encouraged to have an inner strength to counter disease and pests. The fruit is hand-picked and naturally fermented, with a minimum of intervention. This allows us to create wines that are expressive, complex and unique – just like the handprint that you’ll see on the label.
Stoneleigh - Available at The Old Bailey and Zibibbo
What was once an ancient stony riverbed has, over time, become much more. The distinctive stone-studded Rapaura soils of our vineyards create a wine style that is fresh, crisp and vibrant – the flavour of Stoneleigh. Started by nature and finished by the talents of the Stoneleigh winemakers, our philosophy of minimum intervention in the winery ensures that the vibrant flavours of Stoneleigh are captured in each and every bottle.
Te Kairanga Wines - Available at Shed 5
Te Kairanga Wines was established in 1984 and is dedicated to producing Estate grown Martinborough wines. With two thirds of our vineyards planted in Pinot Noir we aim to produce wines with a true sense of Martinborough that provides a fine balance between depth and elegance. Recently Te Kairanga has been revitalised with new ownership, new winemaking and new presentation. Owner Bill Foley has a clear vision for the future – to be producing benchmark Pinot Noir.
Te Whare Ra Wines - Available at Whitebait and One80
Te Whare Ra (TWR) is a small, organic-certified vineyard and winery located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick. The 11Ha vineyard was first established in 1979, and is owned by winemakers Anna & Jason Flowerday. We want our wines to express their place – to speak of a “somewhere-ness” rather than of a “same-ness”. This is achieved with a blend of old and new world winemaking and a hands-on approach in both the vineyard and winery.
Terra Sancta - Available at Ortega Fish Shack & Bar
Terra Sancta means special place – our goal is to capture the essence of our privileged vineyard sites in each Terra Sancta wine. With four vineyards and our winery based in the premium Central Otago subregion of Bannockburn, our soul is the Terra Sancta Estate on Felton Road – the oldest vineyard in the sub-region, planted in 1991. Every wine is consistently linked to a particular part of Terra Sancta and like our unique labels, crafted to to convey a story of provenance, place and personality.
TerraVin Wines - Available at CoCo at the Roxy
TerraVin is a Marlborough winery with a dedicated focus on growing and making world class hillside Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
The TerraVin Hillside Vineyard is a gently sloping north facing vineyard on the back of the Southern Wither Hills. It has a unique maritime microclimate that delivers exceptionally elegant pinot noir. The vineyard is afforded expression through low yields, hands on viticulture and wine maker Gordon Ritchie’s intuitive approach.
The Boneline - Available at Golding's Free Dive
The ancient geology of giant creatures, the permeating past, limestone alluvial “soils”, 25 year old vines, riverside multi-terraced site of steep banked amphitheatres, which regularly ripens 8 varietals including cabernet reds. Mix of old Swiss and younger Dijon Pinot Noir clones, individual ferments, handworked in onsite winery. Great attention to detail in vine and wine care by all. The love shows through in these wines, Pinot Noir is deep within the heart of this place.
The Elder Pinot - Available at Hippopotamus
The Elder Pinot is grown on old river terraces over looking Martinborough’s Te Muna valley. We began planting in 1999, waiting for the vineyard to mature before releasing our first vintage in 2010. The elevation, stony soils and vine selection, combined with exacting canopy management and sustainable practices allow us to produce very small crops of intense flavour. The result is complex, elegant wines that consistently emphasize the refined characteristics of great pinots.
Urlar - Available at Boulcott Street Bistro, Sterling and Shed 5
Urlar is a family owned boutique winery nestled in the Gladstone sub region of the Wairarapa. Wine for us is about passion and fun and we hope that this comes through in our wines. The vines are tenderly loved and grown organically. We are one of only a few producing certified organic wine. Wine that is good for you and our beautiful land.
Waipara Hills - Available at The Old Bailey and Basque
At Waipara Hills our winemaking philosophy is simple. It’s about creating perfect balance, encouraging the characteristics of each season’s fruit to shine, whilst celebrating South Island vineyards. The result is wine that is rich, textural and bursting with complex flavour.
From the vineyards to the winery, our team are hands on in perfecting their craft, pouring a little of themselves into everything they do. Discover the Soul of the South with Waipara Hills.
This list is of those wineries that are pouring at the participating restaurants. For a full list of the 115 wineries that you could win a bottle from check out the full list here.