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The history of wine in Martinborough goes back to 1978 when the first vineyard was planted by Alistair Taylor. He planted Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer but wines from these plantings were not commercially available.
In 1979 Dr Derek Milne produced a report pinpointing similarities between Martinborough’s soils and climate and those of premium French wine regions. A “Gang of Four” pioneered Martinborough’s early plantings – Dr. Neil McCallum of Dry River in 1979, followed in 1980 by Clive Paton of Ata Rangi, Stan Chifney of Chifney Wines (now Margrain Cellars) and the Milne and Shultz families together with Wyatt Creech at Martinborough Vineyard.
Stan Chifney built the first winery and everybody used these facilities for their first vintages. None of these wine pioneers had technical training in winemaking and Stan is quoted as saying, “Looking back, I now realise how ‘green’ everybody was…. We learnt from our mistakes.” This changed in 1986 when Larry McKenna arrived from Delegats in Auckland to take charge of winemaking at Martinborough Vineyard. National and International awards and recognition followed, not only for Pinot Noir but for all varieties grown in the area.
These and other small producers were soon joined by Te Kairanga who bought Alistair Taylor’s ailing vineyard in 1983 and Palliser Estate who made their first wines in 1989. Martinborough’s wine industry has continued to flourish so that by 2005, there are approximately 40 wineries and many more vineyards growing grapes for sale. Many are open for tastings and sales throughout the year and several also have restaurant or café facilities.
Martinborough is renowned for its Pinot Noir but Martinborough wineries have received international awards for many varieties. Martinborough even has its own unidentified grape variety which continues to baffle the experts.
For more information on the vineyards click here<
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