International Pinot Noir Day 2024

18 August marks International Pinot Noir Day. It may feel like the new kid on the block but after rapidly growing in popularity over the past twenty years, this diverse, versatile grape is now Aotearoa's top red wine varietal and the second most exported after Sauvignon Blanc.  

We sat down with Indevin Senior Winemaker, Dave Roper who talked us through why he loves Pinot Noir and his go-to pairings.  

Q. What makes Marlborough’s Pinot Noir wines unique? 

New Zealand’s most famous wine region produces bright, clear Pinot Noir with surprisingly powerful flavours and balanced acidity, refined and elegant examples. 

Q. How are the 2024 Pinot Noir wines shaping up?  

In a word, spectacular. After a brilliant growing and harvest season in Marlborough, the wines in barrel are looking very promising. Yet to reveal themselves in full but in their infancy, it's hard not to be excited about the 2024’s. 

Q. What are some of the trends coming through in Pinot Noir? Is there anything you’re particularly excited about? 

Stems – the inclusion of a percentage of whole clusters and stems helps build tannin structure and boosts aromatic complexity. You need to get it right though, unripe stems can give a herbaceous edge which should be avoided.  

Q. What bottle will you personally be opening to celebrate International Pinot Noir Day, who will you share it with, and where will you be? 

Our 2017 Library Release Organic Marlborough Pinot Noir is in a great place at the moment. Beautifully complex on the nose, showing red and blackberry primary elements with beguiling mushroom, earth and game notes as the wine opens up. The aromas are so enticing the taste seems almost a bonus! The palate is rich, silky with fine tannins, poised acidity and a lengthy finish. 

Q. What food will you pair this wine with, and why? 

A classic pairing – mushroom risotto. Get a few different varieties shitake, portobello, chanterelles, oyster, porcini. Variety boosts the aromatics, flavours and intensity. Bang some truffle in there too and don’t hold back with the parmesan. Yom…earthy flavours, unite! 

Q. Any tips on storing or serving Pinot Noir that will help people get the most out of their bottle of Villa Maria? 

Look after your Pinots! They are fragile wines that our team has painstakingly made. Store them in your wine fridge or cool cellar (13-16 degrees Celsius is ideal.) All our Pinot Noirs are sealed under screw cap so you can store them standing up or lying down. Pair it thoughtfully with something delicious and enjoy.  

Indevin Earth Week 2024: Plastic Marathon

Over the past 5 weeks, our teams across the motu took part in a Plastic Marathon, a competition to see which site could collect the most plastics for Future Post – a fantastic organisation that turns recycled plastic into posts that will be used on vineyards and farms throughout New Zealand.

We’re delighted announce that the whole of Indevin Group recycled a whopping 13.4 tonnes of plastic! This is the equivalent of diverting 286,000 milk bottles and 1,920,000 plastic bags from landfill!

Special mention goes to our Hawke's Bay Vineyard Teams who loaded up two trucks full of old drip line, spray drums and more, to recycle an enormous 11.8 tonnes of plastic.

The overall winners were our Fairhall Winery Team in Marlborough. Our sites were not only tasked with collecting as much plastic for recycling as they could, but also to bring their ideas together to identify ways to permanently remove forms of plastic from their waste streams. The Fairhall Team identified an opportunity to swap out latex gloves they use in the cellar, for a more eco-friendly, biodegradable option. This initiative is currently being trialled on site and if successful, we will look to roll it out to the other sites.

The initiative was run by our Sustainability Manager, Angus Mcfarlane, as part of our inaugural Indevin Earth Week. The week was a chance for our people to get involved in the mahi we are doing in the Sustainability space and included webinars with Diana Hawkins and Emily Dekker from Toitū Envirocare, Tanya Pouwhare from NZ Ethical Employers (NZEE) and members of the Indevin team.

We’re really proud of our whole team for getting involved, showcasing that each time we choose to recycle instead of disposing items, we can truly achieve tremendous results - see below!

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International Sauvignon Blanc Day 2024

MAY 3RD MARKS INTERNATIONAL SAUVIGNON BLANC DAY. THIS VINTAGE, 83% OF THE GRAPES WE HARVESTED WERE SAUVIGNON BLANC AND WE ARE CONSISTENTLY AMAZED BY THIS VERSATILE GRAPE THAT PUT AOTEAROA ON THE GLOBAL STAGE.

We sat down with Indevin Senior Winemaker, David Roper who talks us through which Sauvignon Blancs he’s looking forward to cracking open, fine-tuning the perfect pairing and how best to store and serve Sauvignon Blanc to really impress your whānau.  

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Q. The 2024 vintage is just complete – how are this year’s Sauvignon Blancs looking?  

In a word, fantastic! Being such a transparent wine variety and style, it is easy to understand and capture the quality of the new seasons Sauvignon Blanc wines already. Slightly lower grape yields and a stunning warm and dry summer has set us up well. The fruit quality was superb all-round and now in tank we have wines with bright, intense aromatics and signature juicy, succulent acidity. Outstanding components which we’ll see come together in bottle later this year. 

Q. What are some of the trends coming through in Sauvignon Blanc? Is there anything you’re particularly excited about? 

It’s exciting to see more Sauvignon Blancs being released exclusively from specific sub regions. These wines highlight the different styles of Sauvignon Blanc and showcase the diversity of Marlborough's microclimates and soils. Within the warmer Wairau Valley we see punchy passionfruit, thiol driven wines from the heavier soils in Coastal Wairau. Further inland in Central Wairau, Waihopai and Southern Valley examples deliver ripe citrus, tropical and floral notes. 

Heading over the hills to the cooler, windier and rugged Awatere Valley we see bright limey, bell pepper and herbaceous wines with marine like salinity from areas such as Lower Dashwood, Blind River and further inland to the Upper Awatere, Altimarloch area. 

Q. What bottle will you personally be opening to celebrate International Sauvignon Blanc day, who will you share it with, and where will you be? 

I’m lining up our 2021 Woven Sauvignon Blanc, a thought-provoking example with weight, power and complexity that offers a different perspective on the variety. On May 3rd, I’ll be returning to Auckland from Marlborough fresh from a week of assessing our new vintage Sauvignon Blanc wines. One more Sauvignon Blanc shared with some close friends over a meal.   

Q. What food will you pair this wine with, and why? 

I’ll be angling for a tiger prawn linguine with mussels, cockles, chilli and garlic. The body, intensity, and complexity of Woven should pair well with the fresh flavours of the dish. 

Q. Is there an unusual food combo that you’ve discovered pairs beautifully with Sauvignon Blanc? 

I need to try it with a hearty Bacon and Egg pie. Who doesn’t love pie??! Flavours contrast as individuals but together the acidity cuts through the richness of pastry, egg and bacon and comes together as a great match. 

Q. Any tips on storing or serving Sauvignon Blanc that will help people get the most out of their bottle of Villa Maria? 

Serve it chilled but not straight out of a fridge or ice bucket. Around 90min in the fridge or 40min in an ice bucket is perfect. Too cold and the aromas may appear muted and the acidity sharp. Screwcaps mean you can store bottles standing up or lying down, whatever your preference is. 

A look back on Harvest 2024

director of winegrowing, patrick materman summarises a harvest of smaller yields but outstanding quality

Overview

2024 has been an exceptional vintage across New Zealand’s winegrowing regions. Despite lower yields due to variable weather during the flowering periods, the mid - December shift to an El Niño weather pattern brought dry, settled conditions through harvest. With minimal disease pressure, clean, ripe fruit was harvested, with intense flavours whilst preserving great natural acidity. Even at this early stage, the resulting wines appear to be of fantastic quality.

Marlborough

Early December saw variable temperatures and moderate rainfall, resulting in mixed fruit-set across all varieties. The timing of flowering and fruit-set across Marlborough’s sub-regions had a considerable influence on yield. While some subregions achieved healthy crop levels, overall yields were well below the long-term average. From mid-December through to the end of harvest the El Niño weather pattern brought hot and dry conditions, advancing the harvest start date. Cooler nights through the harvest period maintained the retention of natural acidity and slowed ripening. Low yields and open bunches minimised disease pressure, leading to ripe, pure, and intense varietal flavours with excellent acid base. The 2024 vintage is truly outstanding.

Season Standouts

In a great vintage such as 2024, it's a challenge singling out a star. All varieties have benefited from near perfect growing conditions and show excellent varietal expression. Although the mid-season was hot, the cooler harvest period preserved the region’s signature bright, natural acidity. Sauvignon Blanc displays notable sub-regional expressions from which to blend or create stand-alone wines. While Pinot Noir shows deep colour, real depth of rich flavour, but retains the all-important perfume and elegance.

Hawke's Bay & Gisborne

Following the challenges of the Cyclone Gabrielle in the 2023 vintage, 2024 has brought a stunning harvest to both Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.

Spring saw variable temperatures and higher-than-average rainfall, keeping the water supply high but affecting fruit-set across both regions. This led to low yields, with prolonged flowering. From mid-December, the El Niño weather pattern brought hot and dry weather, accelerating fruit ripening. These favourable growing conditions, combined with low disease pressure, resulted in high fruit quality, exceptional varietal character, and purity of flavour in the resulting wines.

Season Standouts

With no part of the harvest under weather or disease pressure, picking decisions could be based on optimal flavour ripeness and all varieties look superb. Notable examples include Chardonnays from both regions and the dry conditions have been fabulous for our red varieties grown on the Gimblett Gravels. Producing only its second crop of Sauvignon Blanc, our Springhill Vineyard, well inland in Central Hawke's Bay shows tremendous promise.

Above: A selection of the fantastic entries into this year’s photo competition!

Indevin Group partners with NZ Olympic Committee as official wine supplier

Indevin GROUP PROUDLY PARTNERS WITH THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM CHAMPIONING VILLA MARIA AS OFFICIAL WINE SUPPLIER

As excitement builds for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Indevin Group, New Zealand’s leading producer of high-quality wine heroed by the iconic Villa Maria Brand, proudly announces its partnership with the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) as the Official Wine Supplier.   

Indevin will provide its award-winning Villa Maria wines at all NZOC events around the globe, including those hosted at New Zealand House in Paris during the Olympic Games. This partnership emphasises the shared values, vision and commitment of both Indevin and NZOC, while ultimately showcasing the best of New Zealand with the world.  

NZOC CEO Nicki Nicol says the NZOC is proud to welcome Indevin as an official supplier. “We’re thrilled to be welcoming Indevin to our Olympic family at a really exciting time,” said Nicol. 

“Indevin is known for excellence in winemaking and at the NZOC excellence is what we stand for so there’s a really nice synergy between our brands and we look forward to promoting and showcasing their fantastic locally made products.” 

Duncan McFarlane, CEO of Indevin, says, “We are thrilled to support this partnership with our Villa Maria wines for the NZOC and Paris Olympic Games. This is the pinnacle event for New Zealand’s athletes and an opportunity for all New Zealanders to support the hard work and success of our team. At Indevin we believe that we’re stronger together, so we’re honoured to have Villa Maria contribute to the celebrations as our incredible athletes compete on the world stage.”  

Indevin has grown to become New Zealand’s largest wine company in under 20 years, maintaining its global wine credentials and serving as ambassadors for the New Zealand wine industry. McFarlane says supporting NZOC in their mission to enable athletes to reach their Olympic dreams aligns naturally with being a proud New Zealand owned business.   

“At Indevin, we’re dedicated to building a business that supports our communities, reflecting our commitment to the long-term development of the New Zealand wine industry across the globe. We share NZOC’s ambition to deliver meaningful impact both within our own teams, and in the communities within which we live, work and play. 

“As the Official Wine Supplier of the NZOC, we look forward to raising a glass of Villa Maria to the success of New Zealand athletes and contributing to the vibrant spirit of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”  

Indevin Group appoints Simon Limmer as CEO

Indevin Founder and CEO Duncan McFarlane to retire after 20 years at the helm

Indevin Group, New Zealand's largest producer and exporter of quality wine and owner of the iconic Villa Maria brand, announced today that Silver Fern Farms CEO, Simon Limmer will replace Duncan McFarlane early 2024, further cementing Indevin’s leadership and commitment to the thriving New Zealand wine industry.

McFarlane, who founded Indevin Group in 2003, will retire after 20 years at the helm of the business, a period which saw exponential growth from a contract wine maker to New Zealand’s largest wine company. After his long and successful tenure as CEO, McFarlane will remain a valuable member of Indevin Group as a Board Director and consultant for critical strategic projects, while continuing to serve the New Zealand wine industry in a range of advisory roles.

After five and a half years at Silver Fern Farms, and previously 10 years leading Zespri’s global operations, Limmer joins Indevin Group with an aligned vision of sharing the best of New Zealand with the world.

Indevin Group Chairman, Greg Tomlinson says, “Limmer has a clear affinity with New Zealand primary industries and delivering premium New Zealand brands internationally, both of which are critical to the next chapter of Villa Maria and Indevin Group’s growth strategy.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Simon Limmer as our new CEO. Simon is a highly regarded leader with extensive experience in exporting quality New Zealand products to the world. Simon brings a deep understanding of representing New Zealand brands globally, the importance of grower and partner relationships and is the ideal person to lead Indevin Group into the future.”

Limmer says, “I am excited to be joining the Indevin team and looking forward to playing a part in the next chapter of what is already a great New Zealand success story. I believe that the business will continue to exceed consumer expectations when it comes to offering the best of New Zealand through iconic brands such as Villa Maria. By combining Indevin’s proven ability to grow and produce premium wines with globally recognised brands, there is a very strong model, poised for further growth.”

People of Indevin: Vince Edwards

Next up in our People of Indevin series, celebrating 20 years of Indevin, is Vince Edwards, our Brand Experience Lead who is based at Fairhall Winery in Blenheim and started with Villa Maria in 2001.

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PEOPLE OF INDEVIN

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A korero with…

Vince Edwards

Brand Experience Lead

What’s your favourite thing about working at Indevin?

Getting to meet people from all over the world and sharing our wine with them.

What has been your favourite memory from your time at Indevin?

Too many to pinpoint just one. Taking guests fishing has to be one of them.

What are you most excited about for the future of Indevin/Villa Maria?

Seeing Villa Maria become the No.1 New Zealand brand world-wide.

What makes Indevin such a special place to work?

The opportunities that I’ve been given to try so many new things, while discovering and learning new skills.

What was your most memorable vintage?

It would have to be our 2020 Covid “Coachella” vintage.

What advice would you give to someone joining Indevin?

No matter what job you’re doing, do it well. People will notice.

What Indevin wine do our people absolutely have to try?

The magnificent Ngakirikiri. It’s very close to perfection.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Playing guitar, cycling, walking the dog, spending time with family and friends, reading, puzzles and travelling.

People of Indevin: Priyanka Kulkarni | Winemaker

Next up in our People of Indevin series, celebrating 20 years of Indevin, is one our talented winemakers, Priyanka Kulkarni who is based at our 15 Valley Winery in Blenheim.

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PEOPLE OF INDEVIN

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A korero with…

Priyanka Kulkarni

Winemaker

What’s your favourite thing about working at Indevin?

The amazing people I work with. There is never a dull day at the Indevin Winemaking office.

What has been your biggest highlight from your time at Indevin?

Being a part of this amazing business is the biggest highlight for me. I’m overwhelmed and excited with how the 2023 vintage turned out and the wines are looking stunning.

What are you most excited about for the future of Indevin?

Indevin is growing at such a great pace and I’m so excited to be part of this growth and the opportunities that will come along with it. I'm thrilled to be a part of the biggest wine producer in New Zealand.

What makes Indevin such a special place to work?

Hands down the people! I’m so lucky to have met some outstanding people here who inspire me daily to do better, look after me and are there for me every day. To have a work environment that challenges you to keep pushing to achieve big is very special and I love learning and developing new and existing skills in my career growth as the business continues to grow.

What advice would you give to someone joining Indevin?

You are up for an amazing rollercoaster of a ride! You are going to learn so much and meet some amazing people to learn from.

People of Indevin: 20 Years

2023 is a very special year as we celebrate 20 years of Indevin. This is a huge milestone for everyone who has worked so hard to contribute to the success of our business over the years.

There have been many highlights…four wineries, thousands of hectares harvested, tonnes of grapes processed, vintage meals eaten, beautiful wines drunk, belly laughs, early morning yawns. From our first vintage of approximately 3,000T to over 100,000T last year, it has been a rollercoaster ride and we are loving it.

Over the years, we have been lucky to have had many incredibly talented people working at Indevin. Over th next few months, we’ll be focusing on a few of the people who have contributed to our journey along the years in a series of 20 Year Profiles.

Cheers to the next twenty years!

Zac Howell wins 2023 Marlborough NZ Young Viticulturist Of The Year regional final

We are so proud to announce that Zac Howell, one of our Marlborough Graduates won the 2023 Marlborough NZ Young Viticulturist of the Year regional final on 6th July.

Zac is no stranger to the competition, having competed three times previously and so we are really chuffed to see him take the title this year! Competing against seven of his peers in the wine industry, the standard was high, but Zac performed consistently to take home the winners cup with a resounding success.

Zac faced a series of rigorous challenges throughout the day, including pruning vines, budgeting, fixing irrigation, operating machinery, and identifying pests and diseases. The Marlborough team rallied behind Zac, showing their support during the infamous “Hortisports” event at lunchtime, which saw him bear crawling, rolling barrels and building an electric sheep fence.

Following a swift transition to the prize giving dinner, Zac impressed in the quick-fire quiz and concluded the day with a speech to an audience of 180 attendees. We look forward to cheering Zac on at the national competition in Hawke’s Bay in August. We are delighted that Indevin representatives have taken out the title the last three years running, with Tahryn Mason in 2022, Sam Bain in 2021 and Rhys Hall in 2020.

As a key sponsor of the NZ Young Viticulturist Of The Year competition, we are always proud see Indevin people competing! Huge congrats also goes to Maddie Griffith who competed in the Hawke's Bay heat earlier this month, coming way with first prize in the Vineyard Budget section.

Leading the way for ethical employment

We are proud to have formed a partnership with New Zealand Ethical Employers (NZEE) to uphold worker protection measures. This partnership is an integral part of our dedication to safeguarding the wellbeing of workers, including people on the RSE scheme who work on our vineyards and the vineyards of our growers.

The primary objective of NZEE is to enhance employment conditions across all workplaces in New Zealand’s Primary Industries, ensuring that competitiveness does not come at the expense of workers. By partnering with NZEE, we aim to improve ethical employment standards, fostering an environment where people can thrive at work.

Duncan McFarlane, CEO of Indevin, says the partnership with NZEE reflects the company's commitment to the growth of New Zealand's wine industry. He states, “It’s vital that people are looked after in all areas of the industry, with safety and wellbeing at the forefront of decision-making. We are proud to be supporting NZEE in their mission to elevate employment standards for workers and assist labour suppliers in achieving the highest global employment standards."

NZEE Chief Executive Tanya Pouwhare says, “We strive to elevate the quality of workplace experiences for all individuals, emphasizing fairness, dignity, and respect. Collaborating with Indevin allows us to advance our mission further, ensuring that workers thrive in their roles and that New Zealand's wine industry sets a shining example of ethical employment standards."

A look back on Harvest 2023

Our Director of Winegrowing, Patrick Materman, takes a look back at the highs and lows of Harvest 2023.

Marlborough

Despite early season weather concerns, Marlborough has had a superb vintage across all varieties with superb quality and yields being above the long-term average. The fruit remained clean with vibrant flavours and the resulting wines are looking outstanding. With high soil moisture levels leading into the season from heavy winter rain events, the vines got off to a good start with strong canopy growth setting up a strong ‘solar panel’ to ripen the crop. Temperatures hovered just over the long-term average; cool enough to extend the growing season and develop great depth of flavour and bright natural acidity in the fruit. With more elongated, looser grape bunches, there was very little berry squeeze, which coupled with dry weather from veraison through to harvest, resulted in low disease pressure.

Season Standouts

The Awatere Valley vineyards have been a real highlight this season, the wines showing amazing aroma and flavour intensity. It has also been a great vintage for Pinot Noir, the wines primary in colour, and carrying a purity of fruit character along with fine tannin structure. The Pinot Gris has also really shone this year.

Hawke’s Bay & Gisborne

Cooler conditions and unprecedented rainfall through the growing season, along with the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle have been particularly challenging and required vigilant vineyard management. Unfortunately, some vineyard blocks were not able to be harvested but despite these challenges, our significant vineyard holdings in the Gimblett Gravels region performed well; their free-draining soils providing the vines with more resilience to weather events. For both Hawke's Bay and Gisborne, whilst the season has not delivered to the high-quality standards required for our top tier wines, and these won’t be made; there are plenty of clean, fruit driven components to compile our main blends. It will be a vintage of elegance rather than power, where great vineyard sites, along with a highly experienced winegrowing team have delivered an amazing result given the challenges of the season.

Season Standouts

The late ripening reds from the Gimblett Gravels such as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grenache are some of the highlights. Thicker skins, lower cropping levels, and some settled late season weather saw these grapes picked close to optimal ripeness and in good condition. These wines currently display good colour and flavour concentration and are a step up in quality over 2022. Later ripening sites for Chardonnay delivered our best results, and a particular stand-out was our first harvest of Sauvignon Blanc from Springhill, a new vineyard well inland in Central Hawke's Bay. The resulting wine shows huge promise for this new grape growing subregion.

Above: A selection of the awesome entries into this year’s photo competition!

2021 NZ Young Viticulturist of the Year

We are proud to be sponsors of the New Zealand Young Viticulturist of the Year competition. This competition provides a fantastic opportunity for young viticulturists to upskill, grow in confidence, widen their network and start making a name for themselves within the industry.

Supporting this competition is important to us because it helps grow New Zealand’s wine industry and develop the industry’s future leaders.

Last year our Bankhouse Assistant Vineyard Manager, Rhys Hall, won the prestigious title and we couldn’t be prouder. This year we are proud to congratulate Sam Bain from Villa Maria for becoming the 2021 Corteva Young Viticulturist of the Year!

While our biggest vineyard, Bankhouse Estate, was meant to play host to the finals, due to covid precautions they moved to a more remote location. However they had an amazing day and all showed great skill, knowledge and leadership skills, especially with all the extra challenges during the week.

Indevin acquires majority shareholding in Thornhill Horticultural Contracting Limited

Indevin Group (including Villa Maria) is pleased to announce that it has signed an unconditional agreement to purchase a 75% shareholding in Thornhill Horticultural Contracting Limited, an industry leader in sustainable and ethical labour supply for the horticulture and viticulture industry. The transaction will settle on 1 November 2021.

The completion of this purchase follows Indevin’s acquisition of Villa Maria Estate Limited in September and forms a significant part of the company’s strategic road map and long-term growth strategy.

Commenting on the purchase, Duncan McFarlane the CEO of Indevin/Villa Maria, said, “Thornhill is recognised as an industry leader in labour supply with a focus on the development and training of people in our industry. We know those that have worked with them have always been impressed by the quality of service, commitment and investment they make in their people.”

“We’ve also admired their back to work programmes through partnerships with the Ministry of Social Development and Department of Corrections. Having highly skilled staff in specific areas that are important to our business is crucial in building ongoing growth opportunities and value for New Zealand wine. It made sense, as one of New Zealand’s largest wine businesses, to invest in a business that is focussed on empowering people for the overall benefit of our industry.”

Richard Bibby, who purchased the business in 2009, will move into a board role with Thornhill, with day-to-day operations remaining in the hands of Nick Bibby, and Drew Bibby continuing to lead the New Zealand programmes with the Ministry of Social Development and Department of Corrections.

Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Bibby said, “Indevin Group and Thornhill are a great fit. With Indevin and Villa Maria’s scale, our people will have exposure to more opportunities to move from seasonal roles to permanent positions within the business. This collaboration is a really good thing for the New Zealand wine industry as a whole.”

“We’re fortunate that we will have the Bibby family still leading this successful family business, importantly sharing similar values to us and now with the increased support and investment from Indevin,” continued McFarlane.

Following the confirmation of the investment, the Indevin/Villa Maria and Thornhill teams are now working together on plans for this new phase of the business, plus getting to meet the wider business teams.

Murray & Co acted as financial advisor to Thornhill with Wynn Williams providing legal advice to the vendor and Webb Henderson for the purchaser.