8 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Spy Valley Wines T T Richard Loader Spy Valley wine story Around 82% of Spy Valley Wine’s vineyards surround the winery. The intriguing story of Spy Valley Wines came about when the Johnson family bought Timara Lodge in the Waihopai Valley, Marlborough, in the early ‘90s Not the sort of place that you just stumble across, Waihopai Valley runs north to south, at the southern end of the Wairau Valley, and also has the curious honour of being home to the international satellite communication station — the GCSB ‘Spy Base’. The Lodge came with a bit of land, and while the puzzle was what to do with it, by the early ‘90s, Sauvignon Blanc and vineyards were cropping up across the Wairau Valley region. Although not a farmer, Bryan Johnson was in finance and recognised an opportunity when he saw one. Being an oenophile (connoisseur of fine wines), Bryan had found something that he could build a family legacy around, and together with his wife Jan, pioneered planting grapes in the Waihopai Valley, which back then, was the western outskirts of Marlborough’s wine footprint. Today, Johnson Vineyard encompasses 130 hectares in the Waihopai Valley, with another vineyard, Black Knight, up the road in the Wairau Valley encompassing 24.5 hectares. With 20 hectares owned by other growers within a couple kilometres, 82% of Spy Valley Wine’s vineyards surround the winery, where the magic of wine making takes place. A further 30 hectares of vineyards in the lower Wairau Valley, along with 16 hectares belonging to other growers, make up the balance, and provide different flavour profiles. “We grow six different varietals, the majority being sauvignon blanc, then pinot noir, chardonnay, riesling, pinot gris, and gewurztraminer,” says Managing Director Amanda Johnson. “We also make a Methode Traditionelle, and a Rose. For each vintage, depending on the season, the wine making team will experiment and trial some different styles of those grapes, and produce a wine in small quantities that can be sold through the cellar door, like a Nouveau style pinot noir. We also do late harvest wines.” Amanda is Bryan and Jan’s daughter, and as ‘Spy Master’ created the Spy Valley Wines brand, a respectful nod to the more covert activities in the Valley. “The name really has driven our branding and our approach of fun, intrigue, and mystery that has helped create our presence,” says Amanda. Amanda adds that from the beginning it was important for Spy Valley Wines to be vertically integrated and have as much control of quality of the whole process from vine-toglass, as possible. “We have our own vineyards and winery, we bottle the wine on site, have our own warehousing on site and our own cellar door. We also have our own in-house marketing team with digital and video creative.” The environment and sustainability is also close to heart for the team at Spy Valley Wines and the winery’s close proximity to its vineyards helps reduce its carbon footprint, as does its low intervention approach within the vineyards. “We have sheep in the vineyards reducing mowing over winter. Twenty percent of our energy comes from solar — that’s equivalent to five households’ annual energy use. We also use minimal irrigation, with two of our vineyards being completely irrigation free, one of which is one the best remaining examples of spring fed wetland in the lower Wairau Valley. Over the last ten years we’ve carried out weed control, animal pest control and revegetation in an effort to restore the wetland’s birdlife and ecological health. As part of that we’ve now planted over 1000 native trees.” Amanda acknowledges the very important role that the Cellar Door plays in providing brand recognition and telling the great Spy Valley Wines Story to the many local and international guests, as well as the wine’s global distributors. “It is about telling people who we are and what we’re about, in that we are an authentic winery with all the vine-to-glass activity happening behind the scenes. It provides the opportunity for face-to-face consumer interaction and feedback, and the opportunity to showcase our beautiful, architecturally designed winery.” We have your viticultural needs covered Proud to support Spy Valley Wines 11 Jacks Road, Renwick • 03 577 5508 • sales@cmmechanical.co.nz CM Mechanical Limited www.cmmechanical.co.nz Proudly Supporting Spy Valley Wines Scan here to contact one of our local Technical Field Advisors!
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