Collection:
Martinborough Vineyards
Martinborough Vineyard is one of New Zealand’s founding Pinot Noir estates — a name that has helped shape not only a region, but a national style built on subtlety, structure, and site expression. Established in 1980, it was among the first to plant on the now-iconic Martinborough Terrace, a raised riverbed of ancient gravels, where the cool, dry climate and free-draining soils mimic the conditions of Burgundy. From these beginnings, Martinborough Vineyard emerged as a standard-bearer for fine Pinot Noir, along with age-worthy Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc of restraint and texture.
The estate vineyards lie on deep, stony soils that naturally limit vigour and promote root depth, producing small berries with great flavour concentration and phenolic balance. Meticulous viticulture and low yields are central to the philosophy, with every block managed to preserve the delicate interplay between ripeness, acidity, and structure. Sustainable farming has long been embedded in the vineyard’s DNA, supported by a commitment to biodiversity and soil health.
Winemaking is focused and intentional. Pinot Noir is fermented in small open-top vats, often with a portion of whole bunch to bring aromatic lift and structure. Ageing takes place in French oak (around 30% new), with élevage tailored by site and season. Chardonnay is whole-bunch pressed, wild-fermented in barrel, and aged on lees for complexity and quiet power. Sauvignon Blanc, one of the first serious barrel-aged examples in the country, is crafted with texture and age-worthiness in mind — a style that continues to define the house approach.
The wines are finely layered and built to last. Pinot Noir shows dark cherry, dried rose, wild thyme, and earthy complexity, with seamless tannins and long mineral persistence. Chardonnay walks the line between citrus and cream — flinty, saline, and quietly structured. Te Tera, the second label, offers a more immediate, fruit-forward lens while maintaining the estate’s hallmark precision and polish. Every cuvée reflects a philosophy of stillness, ageability, and land-led expression.
What defines Martinborough Vineyard is its legacy of quiet leadership — a winery that shaped a region by listening deeply to the land and refining its voice over time.
These are wines that speak with calm authority — enduring, precise, and always in tune with the rhythm of the gravelly terrace they call home.
