Yealands Estate

The estate was established on 08.08.08 by Peter Yealands in the southern Awatere Valley subregion of Marlborough, right at the north-eastern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. Peter started from scratch. At that time the dramatic and rugged stretch of pastoral land was considered unsuitable for grape cultivation but thinking differently and recognising the huge potential of this untapped coastal region, he took up the challenge and went ahead and planted vines. The resulting vineyard is called Seaview, stretching from the foothills of the Kaikoura ranges to the rolling downs overlooking Cook Straight. It is so close to the ocean that the vines are often misted with sea spray. Yealands is now owned by electricity supplier Marlborough Lines and is the single largest privately owned vineyard in New Zealand. The folds formed by the undulating topography of the vineyard creates micro-climates of growing conditions that provides exciting variety across the varietals: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and Syrah. Yealands are committed to sustainability which underpins everything they do in the vineyards and in the winery. They are actually one of the most sustainable wineries on the planet. Their state-of-the-art custom built winery was the first in the world to be Toitū carbon zero certified from inception. Marlborough has the highest sunshine hours in New Zealand and Yealands installed 1,300 solar panels on their winery roof to transform the plentiful sunshine into renewable energy. The strong off shore winds of this coastal region are also harnessed and converted into energy by wind turbines. They bail and burn their vine prunings to create energy to heat the water in the winery. They also make their own organic compost in their purpose built composting facility and are continually trailing new sustainability initiatives. The Yealands winemaking philosophy is to craft wines that express their sense of place, which means a minimal intervention approach. New Zealand's most coastal vineyard has to battle against the elements and this produces small, thick-skinned grapes with wonderful rich and intense flavours. Their portfolio of premium vegan-friendly award-winning wines are full of flavour, with great structure and balance. These are some of the most exceptional sustainable wines around!