News at Ash Ridge

It was all smiles at our Annual Wine Club Harvest Day!

It was all smiles here at Ash Ridge on March 24th, when we held our annual Wine Club Harvest Day event. We spent the day hanging out with some of our fabulous wine club members; picking Chardonnay, tasting wines, eating delicious food, and listening to John and Leith's MANY stories...

Harvest day, quite frankly, is one of our favourite days of the year--except for when it's the last day of Vintage--as we get to actively engage with our club members and take them behind the scenes to see the beginning of the grape-to-glass process. There's nothing more special than introducing people to what we love to do: crafting delicious wines, especially when we get to showcase a little bit of the mess, chaos, and excitement that goes with it.

We are incredibly stoked with how the day’s attendees did, with them picking 17 rows of our Clone 15 Chardonnay, equating to just over 2.2 tonnes! A fantastic result from everyone's hard work.

The day was not all hard work and no play, as we got to sample some delicious juices, wines, and foods. The morning started off with a customary "pickers smoko" with freshly baked pastries, coffee, and tea. After a few hours of work, we headed down to the winery and sampled the 2024 ferments, tasting a variety of Chardonnay, Viognier, and Rose juices. After a fun but informative breakdown of the revival process from Leith and Thalia, we headed back into the vines for a picture-perfect French country spread. Lemon-roasted chicken, roast vegetable salad, cold roasted beef, fresh focaccia, and Greek salad lined the table, with our dessert barrel's nearby.

The luxurious spread was also accompanied by a special tasting of our unreleased, newly bottled 2023 Premium Chardonnay, 2021 Bordeaux blends, 2022 Estate Syrah, and 2020 Premium Syrah.

 

Our Harvest Day 2024 event was an absolutely stellar day, and we are so happy to have enjoyed it with a small portion of our wine club members. We especially appreciate those who made the trip up from Canterbury and down from Auckland just to attend! It is always lovely getting to know the Ash Ridge Wine Club family, as it constantly pushes us to ensure we are producing the best wines for you to enjoy.  

Our annual harvest day event is a wine club member only event. If you are interested in learning about how to become a wine club member or are interested in attending more wine events such as these, visit our club membership page on our website (/Join-Our-Club) or give us a call. For our current members, and especially those who came out for the day (we hope you had as much fun as we did), keep an eye out for our winter wine event's; a wine blending afternoon in the cellar and a wine dinner! More details will be headed your way soon.

 

Our place, and your place: Ash Ridge named Hawke’s Bay’s Cellar Door of the Year!

November marks two years since we took a chance on purchasing Ash Ridge Winery, and we’re so proud that we’re able to celebrate by being named Cellar Door of the Year at this year’s Bayleys Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards!

It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride since we took charge. We’ve tackled the impacts of COVID-19 and Cyclone Gabrielle; we’ve been certified as an organic vineyard (one of a handful in the region); and we’ve been making big moves to experiment with producing an exciting variety of wines—wines that we’re winning (more) awards for. On top of that, we’re building a cellar door experience that’s young, fresh, and loved by all in the community. That’s our dream, and we couldn’t be happier to be named Hawke’s Bay’s Cellar Door of the Year. 

As you might already know, we’re a truly local family business with three young children at home in Maraekakaho. Grape to glass, we’re run from the ground up with our roots firmly planted in Hawke’s Bay. We’re a small team, and we think our 'all in' approach is something pretty special to Hawke's Bay. Not only does Leith run the place, he’s our head winemaker, grows the grapes, bottles the wine, hosts events, runs tastings, flips pizza, farms our animals... and the list continues! That’s why your support genuinely means the world to us!

Our community is at our heart, and we’re working hard to build something that we’re hugely proud of. So, whether you’re a wine connoisseur searching for a new favourite tipple, a group of friends keen for an afternoon of entertainment in the sun, or parents who want a wine and some peace while the kids enjoy pizza and play on the playground (we know what that’s like!), we’re here for you - and we want Ash Ridge to feel like home.

Our wholehearted thanks go to all of you who have supported us on our journey over the past two years. Whether you’re part of our Ash Ridge Wine Club, have come in to see us for lunch or a tasting, or have purchased a bottle or two from our cellar door shop, we couldn’t have done it without you. It was fantastic to celebrate together at our Food Truck Friday birthday celebration; let’s do it again soon.

So, what’s next for Ash Ridge? We have a huge summer planned of new release wine and events for our community. As well as that, we’re making some highly requested changes to our Wine Club… watch this space! 

 

Ash Ridge is a labour of love, and our wines are dedicated to our family. Pop in to see us soon, and see what all the fuss is about. We’d love to have you!

 

Leith and Tracy 

 

Thanks to Bayleys and our award sponsor, Jenny Nilsson House of Travel

 

Ash Ridge Wines Awarded Gold

We’re incredibly proud of the wine we produce here at Ash Ridge, and we hope to surprise you with the range and quality of varieties we offer.

As a small, organic, family vineyard, our wine has taken its journey from grape to glass right here on our land, with every drop being handcrafted with care by our small team on site.

And that’s why, it makes it even more special that a large number of our wines have been awarded gold, silver and bronze across the Bayleys Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards and New Zealand International Wine Awards, over the last few weeks!

And to top that great news off, some of you will know that Leith, our owner and head-winemaker, is also head-winemaker at his family vineyard, Junction Wines, and a stream of our wines there were also picked as some of the best of the bunch!

Many of these wines are available to purchase online or at our cellar door, with a few special picks being selected for November Wine Club. This includes our gold winning 2023 Premium Riesling which is extremely limited, and available only to Wine Club members. So if you want to try it, contact us to join Wine Club now, before it’s too late.

To join the Ash Ridge Wine Club, click here (/Join-Our-Club)

To head to our online store, click here (/Wines/Estate)

 

Thank you to the judges! Our full list of award winning wines is below:

 

Bayleys Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards 2023

Ash Ridge Winery

2023 Estate Sauvignon Blanc - Gold
2023 Premium Riesling - Gold
2023 Premium Viognier - Silver
2022 Estate Pinot Gris - Silver
2022 Premium Chardonnay - Silver
2023 Estate Chardonnay - Bronze
2023 Estate Pinot Gris - Bronze

Junction Wines

2021 Corner Post Chardonnay - Silver
2022 Pastime Pinot Gris - Silver
2023 Engaged Rose - Silver
2022 Persistence - Silver
2022 Runaway Riesling – Silver

 

NZ International Wine Show Awards 2023

Ash Ridge Winery

Ash Ridge Premium Riesling 2023- Gold
Ash Ridge Premium Chardonnay 2022- Bronze
Ash Ridge Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2023- Bronze
Ash Ridge Premium Viognier 2023- Bronze
Ash Ridge Estate Pinot Gris 2022- Bronze
Ash Ridge Estate Rose 2023- Bronze
Ash Ridge Premium Malbec Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2021- Bronze
Ash Ridge Estate Syrah 2019- Bronze

Junction Wines

Junction Body and Soul Pinot Noir 2021- Gold
Junction Corner Post Chardonnay 2021- Silver
Junction Runaway Riesling 2022- Silver
Junction Possession Pinot Noir 2020- Silver
Junction Pastime Pinot Gris 2022- Bronze
Junction Engaged Rose 2023- Bronze