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Māori Point Wines
This land is a bend on the Mata-Au (Clutha River) where Māori prospectors panned for gold in the 1860s. We are two families devoted to this land and the wines it creates. We are winegrowers, but also scientists who study the soil, weather, plants, animals, and microbes that shape our wines. Seeking a deeper understanding of this place and the wines it can create, our practices honour nature and tradition: sustainable hand-based viticulture, low yields, wild yeast fermentations, minimal sulphites, and natural winemaking.
What we love about
Central Otago
Although it is stunningly beautiful, this is an extreme place, a challenging place to grow grapes. Vines can not yield large crops in these Central Otago soils, with this weather - yet this place can create wines that show crystalline intensity and transparency, and hauntingly beautiful detail
The Experience
We are deeply connected to this ecosystem. Each grapevine has a story, and we laboriously hand-tend each vine to help it tell that story. Flowers and aromatic plants grow between the vines and are then mown and mulched under the vines, which along with our compost creates beneficial nutrition for the vines.
Our extensive native plantings are thriving, and our honeybees can be found buzzing throughout the property. This land and its microflora may explain why our wines show particular purity and intensity, combining beautiful flavors with soft, velvety 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 natural ideal: our winery is right next to our vines, and we hand craft our wines with minimal intervention. We do not intervene, yet we are deeply involved: we smell and taste and ponder each fermentation and each 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.
