New Zealand · Nelson

Kahurangi Estate

Boutique Nelson estate with the oldest commercial vines in New Zealand's South Island, planted 1973. Handmade Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir from three distinct Nelson microclimates.

The producer

Kahurangi Estate holds a distinction no other South Island producer can claim: vines in the ground since 1973, the oldest commercial vineyard on the island. Those first plantings included Riesling, making this also the home of New Zealand's oldest Riesling vines in the South Island. The estate takes its name from a Māori word meaning 'precious' or 'treasured possession', and it has stayed true to that weight, farming at boutique scale and finishing every bottle by hand.

Chief Winemaker Neil Todd arrived in April 2001 as assistant winemaker, having spent the previous decade running his own brewery. He took the lead cellar role in 2004. Brewing and winemaking share more than most people expect: fermentation timing, yeast selection, and clean reductive management all carry across. The range covers Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir, drawn from three Nelson microclimates: the clay-heavy Moutere Hills, the maritime Kina Peninsula, and the alluvial Waimea Plains. Each zone arrives at the winery as a different voice, and the wines are built around that variation.

Known for

Dry Riesling from the oldest commercial vines in the South Island, planted 1973; Estate Reserve Pinot Gris from Moutere Clay soils.

Notable facts

The story

The Brewer Who Stayed

Neil Todd spent ten years running his own brewery before he arrived at Kahurangi Estate in April 2001, taking the assistant winemaker position. Brewing and winemaking are more closely related than most people expect: fermentation timing, yeast management, and the careful avoidance of unwanted oxygen contact all translate directly from one discipline to the other. Todd moved into the chief winemaker role in 2004. His first full seasons in charge coincided with the estate's oldest Riesling vines completing their fourth decade in the ground, vines that had been producing fruit since before most New Zealand wine regions existed in any commercial form. Whether the brewer's instinct for clean fermentation shaped what those old vines produced, or whether the vines simply needed someone patient enough to leave them alone, the Dry Riesling that came out of that period still carries mineral and lemon zest at high acidity, fifty years on from the planting.

From the atlas

Kahurangi Estate

At A Glance

The Producer

Kahurangi Estate holds a distinction no other South Island producer can claim: vines in the ground since 1973, the oldest commercial vineyard on the island. Those first plantings included Riesling, making this also the home of New Zealand's oldest Riesling vines in the South Island. The name comes from a Māori word meaning 'precious' or 'treasured possession', and the estate has stayed true to that weight, farming at boutique scale and finishing every bottle by hand.

Chief Winemaker Neil Todd arrived in April 2001 as assistant winemaker and took the lead role in 2004. Before that he had spent a decade running his own brewery. The move from brewing to wine was not as large a leap as it sounds: fermentation management, yeast selection, and the discipline of keeping reductive conditions clean are skills that cross over. The wines he makes carry that instinct, particularly in the Dry Riesling, which is precise and linear where a less considered cellar hand might let the fruit go soft.

The range covers Riesling, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir. Vine age and microclimate variation are the two constants across all four varieties.

Place

Nelson sits at the top of the South Island, sheltered by ranges to the south and west, open to the Tasman Sea to the northwest. The region receives high sunshine hours relative to other South Island wine areas, and the combination of warmth and cool nights pushes grapes to full ripeness while holding acidity.

Kahurangi draws from three distinct areas within Nelson. The Moutere Hills, inland and clay-heavy, give slower-draining soils that force vines to work harder for water and concentrate flavour in the fruit. The Kina Peninsula, closer to the coast, adds maritime lift and a cooler ripening profile. The Waimea Plains, alluvial and free-draining, produce lighter, more aromatic fruit. Each source zone arrives at the winery as a different voice, and the range is built around that variation rather than blending it away.

Soil And Site

The Moutere Hills are built on heavy clay loam, a soil type that retains moisture and mineral nutrients but drains slowly. Pinot Gris vines on these soils develop a smooth, fruit-forward texture that comes through clearly in the Estate Reserve label. The clay also contributes to the mineral backbone of the older Riesling parcels, where deep root systems have had fifty years to find their level.

The Kina Peninsula's proximity to the Tasman Sea means cooler air movement and a longer, slower growing season on those blocks. The Waimea Plains alluvials drain quickly, producing grapes with brighter aromatics and a lighter body, well suited to the entry-level Sauvignon Blanc expression.

Story

When the Moutere Hills vines went into the ground in 1973, commercial viticulture in the South Island was barely an industry. Most of what existed on the island at that time has since been pulled out or replanted. Kahurangi's original parcels survived, which means the estate carries fifty years of vine maturation that cannot be bought or rushed.

Neil Todd's arrival in 2001 brought the cellar into a new chapter. He had been making beer, not wine, and brought with him a brewer's attention to fermentation cleanliness and yeast character rather than a winemaker's inherited habit. By 2004, when he took the chief winemaker role, the oldest Riesling vines were entering their fourth decade of production. The Dry Riesling has high acidity, mineral, lemon zest, green apple, nectarine, and citrus.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate farms at boutique scale, which in practice means small batch sizes and hand processing at every stage. Grapes from the three microclimate zones are kept separate through harvest and into the cellar, allowing each source to contribute differently to the range. Moutere Clay fruit is handled to preserve its texture and weight. Coastal Kina fruit retains the aromatic freshness that clay soils would suppress.

Riesling from the oldest parcels is fermented to dryness, keeping the acidity clean and the fruit profile linear. The reductive mineral note that reviewers have noted in the Pinot Noir comes from careful management of oxygen exposure in the cellar, a technique Todd's brewing background makes second nature. Oak is used selectively: the Pinot Noir shows toasted oak influence in older vintages, while the white wines remain in neutral vessel to protect the aromatic character of the fruit.

Wines

Dry Riesling: The estate's oldest variety and clearest expression of what the Moutere Hills produce. High acidity, tight mineral backbone, lemon zest, green apple, nectarine, and citrus running from nose to finish. No residual sweetness. The oldest commercial Riesling vines in the South Island give this wine a depth of concentration that younger plantings cannot replicate.

Estate Reserve Pinot Gris: The flagship label, sourced from two vineyards in Moutere Clay. Ripe pear, apple, and stone fruit on the nose with floral notes. Medium-bodied on the palate with a smooth, rounded texture and enough acidity to keep the fruit from going heavy. This is the most commercial of the range in the sense that it is built for immediate pleasure.

Sauvignon Blanc Nelson: The lighter of the two Sauvignon Blanc labels. White peach, lemon, apple, and white mango on the nose. Dry and fresh on the palate, well suited as an entry point into the range.

Sauvignon Blanc Reserve: More concentrated and textural than the Nelson label. Citrus and green papaya with mango and sweet bell-pepper on the nose, a layer of fresh herbs underneath. The palate is crisp and dry with a fine satin texture, white clay and wet stone mineral quality from the Moutere soils, and a balanced, even finish. This is where the reserve tier justifies itself.

Pinot Noir: The most structured bottle in the range and the one that signals the estate's cool-climate ambitions. The 2020 shows ripe dark cherry, plum, baking spice, and toasted oak, dry and medium-bodied with balanced fresh acidity and medium tannins. The 2022 moves toward a younger, brighter profile: red cherry flesh and plums, a flinty and gently reductive quality, mineral and nut notes, and an even fine tannin finish. Both vintages are built for the table rather than the cellar door.

In The Glass

The Dry Riesling lifts from the glass with lemon zest and green apple before the mineral note settles in underneath. On the palate the acidity arrives first, sharp and mouth-watering, then the nectarine and citrus fill in the mid-palate. The finish is dry, mineral, and long. Nothing softens it.

The Estate Reserve Pinot Gris is warmer: ripe pear and stone fruit carry through from nose to palate, and the Moutere Clay texture shows as a smoothness that rounds off the edges without flattening the fruit. Refreshing acidity at the back keeps it clean.

The Sauvignon Blanc Reserve is the most layered of the white wines. Citrus and green papaya give way to herbs and a fine mineral quality on the palate, with the satin texture and wet stone character adding weight without adding sweetness.

The Pinot Noir is dry, medium in body, and built around cherry and plum with firm but fine tannins and acidity that stays balanced rather than aggressive. The reductive mineral note in the 2022 is not a flaw but a character, a quiet flinty quality that adds complexity to the red fruit.

A Bottle To Understand It

The Dry Riesling is the bottle from Kahurangi Estate. It is made from the oldest commercial vines in the South Island, planted in 1973 on Moutere Hills clay, fermented dry, and aged without oak. High acidity and mineral character accompany lemon zest, green apple, and nectarine. There is no residual sweetness to soften the entry and no oak to obscure the place. Start with this bottle and the rest of the range will make sense: the vine age, the soil, and Neil Todd's clean, direct cellar style are all present in one glass.

Anecdote

Neil Todd spent ten years running his own brewery before he arrived at Kahurangi Estate in April 2001, taking the assistant winemaker position. Brewing and winemaking are more closely related than most people expect: fermentation timing, yeast management, and the careful avoidance of unwanted oxygen contact all translate directly from one discipline to the other. Todd moved into the chief winemaker role in 2004. His first full seasons in charge coincided with the estate's oldest Riesling vines completing their fourth decade in the ground, vines that had been producing fruit since before most New Zealand wine regions existed in any commercial form. Whether the brewer's instinct for clean fermentation shaped what those old vines produced, or whether the vines simply needed someone patient enough to leave them alone, the Dry Riesling that came out of that period still carries mineral and lemon zest at high acidity, fifty years on from the planting.

Final Word

Kahurangi Estate is Nelson's oldest commercial vineyard, and the Dry Riesling is the clearest record of what those fifty-year-old vines and that clay-heavy hillside produce. The range is small and handmade. Every bottle traces back to one of three Nelson microclimates. Neil Todd has been making the decisions in the cellar for more than twenty years, and the wines are more direct and mineral for it.

Sources

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