Business South June 2021

26 | Central Otago - Te Kano Estate REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Te Kano Estate adds Waitaki winery Te Kano Estate has extended its operations to the Waitaki District, with the recent acquisition of an existing winery and 11ha vineyard Kim Newth I n Central Otago, a region renowned for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Te Kano Estate is in a class of its own producing wine of exceptional quality from two vineyards in Ban- nockburn and another at Northburn. Now the wine industry high flier has extend- ed its operations to the Waitaki District, with the recent acquisition of a winery there – the former Pasquale Kurow Winery – along with an additional vineyard of 11 hectares. Founded by the Lloyd family, Te Kano has an artisan approach to winemaking that allows the fruit to shine. Te Kano Pinot Noir 2017 scored 94 points at the 2020 International Wine & Spirit Competi- tion Ltd, putting it in the absolute elite of New Zealand wine in that class. It is just the latest in a string of accolades for this company, which is committed to sus- tainable growth, environmental stewardship and authentic wine making based on hand picking and whole bunch pressing. A success- ful wine exporter, Te Kano is currently experi- encing strong growth in the Australian and UK markets, as well as rising sales into Canada. Serendipity played a hand in the compa- ny’s winery expansion. Te Kano had already started the process of planning to build a new winery when the Pasquale property came on the market last year. “It was the perfect fit for us,” says Dave Sutton, Te Kano’s winemaker and general manager. “It had the same footprint as what we had been planning and it was ready to go. It has fast tracked our plans by three years. Having the winery means we now have full control over every step of the operation, from vine- yard right through to bottling.” After trialling the facility last year, Te Kano put all its production of 160 tonnes through the winery this year. There is capacity to ulti- mately process 300 tonnes annually, including production out of the Waitaki vineyard. “The vines we bought are very old and established and have been dry farmed for a long period, so it will be exciting to see what they will produce. There’s a huge amount of potential waiting to be tapped in this region and it’s great to be a part of that.” Te Kano’s main focus is on Pinot and Char- donnay, followed by Rosé and Blanc de Noir. The Waitaki vines also bring Gewürztraminer into the Te Kano vineyard portfolio for the first time, along with a significant boost to the Riesling volume. “I’m really excited about that – I see it as a feather in our caps and a whole new wine making style to explore.” This vineyard also comes with a history of organic production, in synch with Te Kano’s own ethos of organic farming. The name ‘Te Kano’ (Māori for seed) cel- ebrates a 400-year-old Kowhai tree on the Northburn slopes above Lake Dunstan. Known as ‘Old Man Kowhai, it inspired a re-planting programme with seeds from the trees col- lected and planted to help restore the area’s biodiversity. There are now a thousand young kowhai flourishing on these slopes. Similar planting programmes are planned for the Waitaki winery and vineyard. “We plant natives on all our properties, sourcing materi- als from the surroundings.” This year’s harvest went very well for Te Kano. While Central Otago had a difficult flowering period, rainfall at the right time produced perfect growing conditions. “We had a bumper season – it was absolute- ly outstanding and the quality is very high.” Seasonal staff has been in short supply as a result of border restrictions, but Dave says Te Kano’s team did a great job, putting in big hours to get the work done. “Everyone dug deep this year to ensure we had a successful harvest.” 4 Chardonnay St, Cromwell | 027 245 6472 | 03 445 1139 Specialising in ... • Electrical design & installations • Industrial Process & control • Electric motor controls installation & repairs • Electronic Innovations