Greystone Wines in North Canterbury has been named New Zealand’s ‘Winery of the Year’ 2018 by New Zealand wine critic Raymond Chan.

According to Chan, “Greystone Wines has always figured among the contenders for this award from the very start due to the exceptional nature of the wines across their whole range, and this has continued every year with increasing quality and sophistication.”

This accolade finishes off a successful year for the team; earlier in 2018 Greystone Wines winemaker, Dom Maxwell, was named New Zealand’s 2018 ‘Winemaker of the Year’ by Gourmet Traveller Wine.

“We are all completely blown away by the news. It’s amazing to have our winery recognised at this level and to be able to share this award with the team is very special,” said Maxwell.

Chan said it was not just the quality of the wines that set Greystone apart, but their ground-breaking viticulture and winemaking.

“This year their [Greystone’s] innovative approach to vineyard work and winemaking has brought them to the fore, thus making them my choice.”

“The vineyard fermentation of the Pinot Noir is particularly fascinating. Dom Maxwell conducted a presentation on indigenous yeast vineyard fermentation at the 2017 Pinot Noir conference in Wellington. The audience were spell-bound by the work Greystone had conducted with this, and the results to date. There is no doubt the wine captures more of the nature or terroir of the site.”

This year Greystone Wines released 500 bottles of their first ever Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir using this world-first winemaking technique, which sold out in just 8 weeks.

“The ‘Winery of the Year’ was instituted in 2011, as my way of recognising the wine producer that submitted the best wines for ‘Feature Review’ through the year. The previous winners have included Neudorf Vineyards, Pegasus Bay, Te Whare Ra, Escarpment Vineyard, Valli Vineyards and Vidal Estate,” said Chan.

Raymond Chan’s full article on Greystone Wines can be found here.