Nelson wine pioneers celebrating a perfect day with sale of Heaphy Wines
Neil Hodgson speaks to Greg and Amanda Day of Heaphy Vineyard and Winery about the recent sale of Heaphy Wines, and what this means for the Nelson wine region.
Read our summary below, and view the full article on Stuff.
Greg and Amanda Day of Heaphy Vineyard and Winery.
Article by Neil Hodgson, published by Stuff on 11 October 2022.
In my very first wine column I included the 1999 Kahurangi Estate Gewurztraminer as my wine pick.
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since 2000 when Greg and Amanda Day were in the early stages of developing a significant wine making and liquor distribution business.
When they sold the different arms of their business a few years ago they carried on growing grapes and making wine under contract for others before establishing Heaphy Wines in 2019.
When Greg and Amanda started thinking about getting ready for retirement, and they had decided to sell the Heaphy Wines business, “I put my thinking cap on” said Greg.
“Who would want to buy our business? We knew Boutinot imported wines from around the world to sell in England and that they also owned their own vineyards and wineries in some countries, but their business had changed quite a bit.
“Because of our long relationship with them, we knew about the changes that saw two staff buying 70% of the company, and we had continued our relationship with them, in particular with their managing director Dennis Whitley.
Greg sent Dennis an email and asked if he was interested in buying a New Zealand wine business.
“We signed a conditional agreement to give them time to come here and inspect the premises and do their due diligence on the business. They sent their chief winemaker over here to work the 2022 vintage with us, we managed to get him a work visa that was one of only 50 issued to winemakers for the 2022 vintage.
“Eric Monnin arrived in April, went through all the plant and equipment, told head office everything was fine so Dennis and Michael Moriarty came out here, and we signed the final agreement at the Hawker House.”
Amanda says it is a really exciting opportunity for Nelson because their stated mission is to make Heaphy the largest selling Nelson wine brand and one of the largest New Zealand wine brands in the UK.
“They want to make the Heaphy Wines brand their premium New Zealand wine brand, and they also want to buy from other growers in Nelson.”
The sale of the Heaphy Wines business to a very big UK wine business is a huge opportunity for Nelson, but fear not, Heaphy Wines are available in Nelson – they have just started selling them to local retailers and on-premise restaurant clients.
Or you can buy them at North Eatery at Heaphy’s Upper Moutere cellar door.