Exceptional Hawkes Bay vineyards placed on the market

Media Release

3.4.2017

Exceptional Hawkes Bay vineyards placed on the market for sale

Hawke’s Bay’s Dartmoor Vineyard and Matheson Vineyard, owned by Treasury Wine Estates, have come on to the market for sale.

Matheson Vineyard, situated some 14 kilometres from Havelock North, is a 41.026 hectare property – of which some 36 hectares is planted with multiple grape varieties, including:

· 15.17 hectares of merlot

· 2.86 hectares of malbec

· 3.6 hectares of syrah

· 3.07 hectares of cabernet sauvignon

· 5.2 hectares of sauvignon blanc

and

· 6.16 hectares of chardonnay.

Total tonnage from near triangular shaped Matheson Vineyard has more than tripled over the past four vintages – from 110 tonnes in the 2013 harvest to 340 tonnes in the 2016 crop.

Matheson’s first vines were the cabernet sauvignon and malbec strains planted in 1996 and 1997 respectively. The bulk of the remaining vines were planted between 2000 and 2003. The vineyard sits at the junction of State highway 50 and Maraekakaho Road.

Meanwhile, Dartmoor Vineyard on the outskirts of Napier is a 33.18 hectare viticulture parcel, of which 28.65 hectares is planted in sauvignon blanc grapes. The block sits directly alongside the banks of the Tukaekuri River.

The first sauvignon blanc vines were planted at Dartmoor in 2001 and steadily added to over the following four years. Some six hectares of sauvignon blanc vines were planted at the end of last year after the former chardonnay stock was removed.

Like sister property Matheson Vineyard, Dartmoor Vineyard’s output has risen dramatically over the past four years – from 146 tonnes in the 2013 year to 373 tonnes in the 2016 vintage. The Puketapu property was first established in the mid-1980s - as Matua’s international prominence as New Zealand’s first sauvignon blanc producer was rapidly rising.

Now the two vineyards are being jointly marketed for sale by tender through Bayleys Auckland and Bayleys Napier, with tenders for each property closing on April 20. Bayleys Napier viticulture specialist Glynn Rees-Jones said the two Matua locations could be tendered for either individually or as a joint purchase.

He said both vineyards were being sold without ongoing supply contracts and could likely face vastly different futures.

“Dartmoor Valley is renown among viticulturalists for being virtually frost-free – meaning the land is prime for replanting into pip fruit production or other crop land usage,” Mr Rees-Jones said.

“Surrounding properties within the valley are extensively utilised for orcharding and cropping purposes, and given the high dollar values currently being derived for apples and kiwifruit on the export market, there is every potential the vineyard could be repurposed to produce an apple or kiwifruit crop.

“Conversely, located within the highly fertile Ngatarawa sub-region, the quality of grapes harvested from Matheson Vineyard are primarily used for award-winning single block wines, with consequential premium prices being achieved on the retail shelves.”

Bayleys Auckland winery sales specialist Mike Peterson said production levels at both properties were sustained by excellent irrigation programmes – with both vineyards accredited under the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand programme.

“Both the Dartmoor and Matheson vineyards operate purpose-built bore and well-drawn irrigation systems, with appropriate resource consents in place from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council,” he said.

Building infrastructure on the Matheson Vineyard features a refurbished three-bedroom home converted into an administrative office and a pair of large lockable four-year-old four-bay equipment and machinery storage sheds. The vineyard has three frost management wind machines on site, and draws its irrigation from a bore well circulated by an electric pumping system.

Meanwhile, building infrastructure on the Dartmoor Vineyard features a cabin-like office block with toilet and shower, a three bay 127.9 square metre implement shed, a separate drive-through concrete-floored spray and pump shed, a small chemical and pumping machinery shed, and a fuel tank storage shed. The idyllic vineyard draws its irrigation from a artesian well in the centre of the property and circulated by an electric pumping system.

Vineyards owner Treasury Wine Estates produces wine in New Zealand under labels including Matua, Shingle Peak and Squealing Pig. Grapes from the Hawke's Bay vineyards have been crushed locally in the region, before being transported to the Matua Marlborough Winery for winemaking.

Matheson Vineyard has a ratable capital valuation of $4.38 million, while Dartmoor Vineyard has a ratable capital valuation of $2.2 million, although Mr Peterson said both would like attract higher tender offers because of their current tonnage production

And future production capabilities respectively.

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