Maori Point Vineyard Ltd

About Winery and Wines

We are John Harris, Marilyn Duxson, Matt Evans, and Maggie Evans. We are also the friends and family who contribute so much to Maori Point. We are passionate about this land and all of the animals, plants, fungi and microbes that inhabit it. We planted Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris vines in 2002, and although we may give some special attention to the grapevines, they are nonetheless merely part of the larger ecosystem. Located In the heart of Central Otago. Halfway between Cromwell and Wanaka, on the bank of the Clutha River at Tarras, Maori Point is surrounded by mountains, snow-covered in winter (and often through summer). The area is usually cloud-free and dry. The southern boundary of our vineyard is sheltered by pine trees but the nor-west wind can funnel between the mountain ranges and sweep across the vineyard. Our soil is wind-blown loess over deep deposits of large boulders dumped at the foot of the Hawea glacier, 10,000 years ago. Since then, little has grown in this arid environment. We are changing that, both through our grapevines (which unlike most crops can thrive in this free-draining, low-organic content soil) and through our plantings of native vegetation. We practice careful viticulture and management of the land. We believe that each grapevine has a story, and we laboriously hand-tend each vine to help it tell that story. Flowers and aromatic plants are grown between the vine rows and then mown and mulched under the vines, to create a beneficial ecosystem and nutrition for the vines. These practices have made an enormous difference: in just a few years our vines have found balance, and the soil in the vine rows has changed colour from pale sand to dark loam. Meanwhile, our native vegetation is thriving, and our honeybees can be found buzzing throughout the property.

A great wine is the expression of its terroir: the place, the soils and the people. This land and our careful farming of it may explain why our wines show particular intensity, combining lifted fruit and non-fruit flavours with sumptuous textures. We allow the native wild yeasts from our vineyard to perform our Pinot Noir fermentations, and we do not fine or filter our Pinot Noir. Our winemaking is the artisanal ideal: our winery is right next to our vines, and we hand craft our wines with minimal intervention, but maximal care. We smell and taste and ponder every fermentation and every single barrel of our wine, from start to finish. We have learned to read our wines, to understand their past and dream about what they will become. But these words can only take you so far. To truly understand, come visit us and taste our wines.