Cowslip Farm offers a bit of everything
AN EXCEPTIONALLY diverse Marlborough property with multiple income streams is for sale by negotiation.
The 122-hectare Cowslip Farm, on Tyntesfield Rd in Waihopai Valley, combines 30ha of sauvignon blanc and pinot noir vines with about 50ha of cattle grazing, nearly 25ha of mature pine trees primed for harvesting, 300 olive trees, 70 walnut trees and tourist accommodation.
‘‘Occasionally you can find a vineyard for sale which may have a commercial accommodation dwelling on it,’’ Bayleys Marlborough viticulture sales specialist John Hoare says. ‘‘Or a cattle grazing farm with a forestry block to one side, or an olive plantation with an adjoining specialist horticultural activity on the periphery.
‘‘But I certainly haven’t seen anything that has all of these aspects on one single property.
‘‘To say that there are multiple revenue streams is somewhat of an understatement. There’s so much going on with this property . . . it’s a goldmine opportunity for potential buyers to think where to start.’’
Eclectic entrepreneur and culture aficionado Mike Ponder and his wife, Di, have developed the site over the past eight years, expanding its productive capacity annually.
Hoare says the Ponder name has been synonymous with viticulture in Marlborough since the early 1990s.
He says the award-winning wine maker was also an early pioneer in New Zealand’s niche virgin olive oil market and as a professional artist is best known for his iconic stockman works.
He’s also written non-fiction works on olive oil and art, and two best-selling novels (The Windsor Conspiracy, Four Kings).
Hoare says the property and its diversity of revenue streams reflect Ponder’s colourful personality. The sale includes the freehold land, buildings, and business assets.
The crops are being sold with a supply contract in place to Matua Wines, with the sauvignon blanc vines annually producing 400–500 tonnes of fruit, and there’s a shorthorn cattle herd of 24 breeding cows and 15 heifers. Another feature is a wetland area that includes a lake with ducks, swans and exotic royal spoonbills.
The three-bedroom, twobathroom homestead is open-plan and has a sleep-out and internal garage; the separate two-bedroom, two-bathroom guest cottage was renovated four years ago.
Additional farm and vineyard infrastructure includes a hay barn, a large farm equipment/implement and general storage shed, and two cattle yards.
Hoare says the pine forest plantings could be harvested now or in the short to medium term.
‘‘Mike’s enthusiasm for environmental sustainability is well documented. As a member of the New Zealand Forestry Council, he consistently championed the cause of the small-scale forest owner.
‘‘And he very much lived what he preached when it came to sustainable land management – not only seeding substantial olive groves and boundary vine rows not only for aesthetic purposes, but also the commercially- harvestable pine plantations for logging.’’
For more information, contact John Hoare on (03) 578 7700, 027 432 1410 or at john.hoare@bayleys.co.nz