Chard Farm Winery celebrates 25 years on the farm

Chard Farm Winery celebrates 25 years on the farm

Central Otago’s Chard Farm Winery is celebrating 25 years on the farm later this month with a VIP wine tasting, birthday party and a family-friendly locals’ Open Day.

Celebrations will be held over the weekend of Friday and Saturday February 20 and 21, and in a ‘nod’ to the community that has supported the business over the decades, all proceeds from wine sales on the Open Day will go to local primary schools.

Director and winemaker Rob Hay said he, wife Gerdi and family were looking forward to celebrating the landmark anniversary.

“I first set eyes on the farm in August 1986 after returning from Germany where I’d studied winemaking,” he said.

“I fell in love with it and started managing it as an orchard, but when I had an epiphany one balmy Central Otago evening and envisioned it as a fully-planted vineyard, I think more than a few people thought I was mad.

“We were advised not to plant anything there at all, or at best stick with some obscure early-ripening Germanic variety of grape, but we persevered and with a lot of help from family, friends and locals we got there.”

Fast-forward 25 years and key wine writers, wine buffs and restaurateurs from around the country will meet Chard Farm’s three winemakers from the past two-and-a-half decades (Rob Hay, Duncan Forsyth and current winemaker John Wallace) for a formal ‘Pinot Evolution’ tasting in the barrel cellar on the Friday afternoon.

The unique event will include a vertical tasting of Chard Farm’s single vineyard pinot noirs spanning 12 years and a chance to taste other wines from earlier vintages, including the very first 1989 vintage. The invite-only party will take place that night for family, wine identities and friends of the farm over the years. The party will include “a few surprises”, says Mr Hay.

Chard Farm will then host an Open Day on Saturday February 21, inviting locals and visitors to learn more about the winery’s history, including a winery and barrel cellar tour, alongside great local food and live music.

Youngsters will be entertained with everything from a bouncy castle to face painting and family-friendly games, while parents can also experience the workings of the winery and taste and purchase wine at special rates on the day.

To celebrate the community spirit which was evident from Chard Farm’s early days, all proceeds will go to Arrowtown, Shotover, Remarkables, Queenstown and St Joseph’s primary schools.

“The open day is a great way to invite the local community to celebrate with us. Everyone will have the chance to find out more about the intricacies of the wine-making process and we’ll have special locals’ prices on wine,” said Mr Hay.

“Twenty-five years on the farm is a fantastic milestone for us.

“The winery’s gone from 200 cases produced in 1989 to over 40,000 cases produced annually. Chard Farm wines are exported to over a dozen countries and we’re proud to say that our pinot noirs are found on many top restaurant wine lists throughout Australasia.”

The event is a celebration of local farming history and success – Chard Farm is embedded in the area’s past, beginning with the arrival of Englishman Richard Chard in 1862 who ran the farm supplying food to goldrush miners. The Chard family continued to work the farm for over one hundred years.

When the Hay family took over, Central Otago’s then fledgling wine industry was a collaboration of camaraderie and dogged hard work between early visionary pioneers, something Chard Farm is keen to celebrate.

ENDS

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