New vineyard offerings in recovering market 

Things are looking up for viticulture landowners wishing to sell their properties, according to Bayleys agents.

Most vineyards on the market in Marlborough during the past couple of years were forced sales as lenders called in receivers or initiated mortgagee sales.

But Tim Crawford of Bayleys Marlborough country team says valuers are beginning to find it easier to determine values in the aftermath of mortgagee and stressed sales.

Several big deals with larger industry players have also provided benchmarks as the industry emerges from oversupply problems.

He cites Mission Estate’s purchase of Marlborough’s Cable Station vineyard last year as a positive sign. 

Bigger buyers tend to seek large holdings without significant dwellings and without locked-in supply contracts, he says. 

Private buyers are often seeking a lifestyle change and several vineyard properties on the market have attracted interest from farmers looking for a change of direction.    

Six are being marketed by Bayleys as part of its Autumn Country magazine portfolio offerings. 

They include Lone Gum vineyard, whose grapes were used to make the first New Zealand wine to win a UK Sunday Times wine award in London, in 1986 – a sauvignon blanc developed by the late Ernie Hunter.

The 22ha irrigated Lone Gum vineyard in Dog Point Rd has scored awards annually since then. It supplies grapes to labels such as Saint Clair, Matua, Mahi, Highfield and Paua Bay but it can be bought with or without grape supply contracts.

It is being marketed along with an 18ha vineyard on Brookby Rd. The two properties are jointly managed and owned by the same vendor. 

John Hoare and Jackie Herkt of Bayleys Marlborough are marketing four vineyard properties with different supply and management options.

At 241 Jacksons Rd, Rapaura, is a 10.22ha property with immediate neighbours including Stoneleigh Wines, Alan Scott Wines and Cloudy Bay Wines. The 5.8ha planted in chardonnay and pinot noir is leased to an established wine company until June 2015. 

The property includes a Peter Beaven-designed home with separate guest accommodation.

Summerhouse vineyard at 74 Fareham Lane, Renwick, is described as an established 24ha property developed since 1996 by the vendors for their own wine business. It is planted 46% in sauvignon blanc, 30% pinot noir and 15% chardonnay, with three other varieties making up the balance.

Companies in the vicinity of Summerhouse and those which obtain its grapes in the area include Oyster Bay (Delegats), Pernod Ricard, Marisco, Mud House, Clos Henri, Ara and Seresin. 

Two other vineyards at 1467 and 1411 (called Awatere Vineyard) in Redwood Pass Rd in the lower Dashwood area of the Awatere Valley are for sale by deadline treaty, with offers by May 17. The two properties of 28.6ha have produced grapes for a New Zealand-based family winery.

Meanwhile, Georg Riedel, chief executive of the Austrian Riedel Glass Company, toured the Central Otago wine region last week “to gain a better appreciation of the region’s pinot noir,” according to a prepared statement. 

Mr Riedel, a 10th generation member of the Riedel family, led a tasting session with 20 wine experts and local winemakers who each sampled their own vineyards’ wines in 14 different types of Riedel glasses.

He says using the right glass is crucial and Central Otago pinot noir was selected for the new wine glass because of its quality and intensity. 

Each guest was asked to rate the glasses and award points to those they thought best reflected the way their wine should taste before scores were collated and two glasses emerged as clear winners.

Pioneer local winemaker Alan Brady was quoted as saying he was “amazed” at how different his Wild Irishman pinot noir wine tasted in each of the glasses.

“It was as if I had tasted 14 different wines and for me there was one clear winner which stood out from the rest,” he says in the media statement. 

The perfect pinot noir glass has a rounded, bulbous bottom and a thin pointed flow at the top, according to Mr Riedel.

c.hutch@clear.net.nz