Foreign interest in vineyards
Foreign buyers are picking up Wairarapa wineries to add products and brands to their established overseas networks.
Most recently, Japanese brewer Nishi Sake Selling Co Ltd bought Urlar Estate in Carterton for $8.75 million.
Nearby Gladstone Vineyard was sold to Australian buyers last May, Escarpment vineyard in Martinborough was bought by South Australia’s Torbreck Vintners last year, as was a pocket of land outside the town to Australian-owned Hawke’s Baybased winemakers Craggy Range.
American-owned Foley Family Wines has had Te Kairanga and Martinborough Vineyard in South Wairarapa as part of its nationwide stable of assets for several years.
Martinborough-based real estate broker Mike Laven, of Colliers International, said overseas buyers had established markets and distribution networks.
‘‘There’s been quite a bit of overseas interest in the Wairarapa wine industry. All of those buyers have got overseas markets that they want to sell those Wairarapa wines into,’’ he said.
The Overseas Investment Office (OIO) gave Nishi approval in December and the sale was settled just before Christmas.
Laven said Nishi was able to ‘‘tick all the boxes for the type of overseas investor we need in the New Zealand wine sector’’.
Urlar was established in 2004 when Angus and Davina Thomson planted 30 hectares of vineyards on Dakins Rd in pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris and riesling.
The company uses organic and biodynamic principles and has developed a strong international brand and now exports approximately 75 per cent of its wines.
Angus Thomson was excited the new owners had big plans for Urlar.
‘‘Nishi Sake Brewing is planning to take the company to a new level and will establish Urlar as a leading New Zealand wine brand in Japan.
‘‘They have very well established distribution channels as their Shochu is widely available throughout the country in premium retail and hospitality outlets’’.
Established by the Nishi family in 1845, the company is now in its eighth generation of brewers.
Company president Yoichiro Nishi, who has a passion for Wairarapa pinot noir, is overseeing the expansion to include New Zealand wine into the portfolio of products it offers.
The OIO decision said the sale included the creation of new jobs resulting in a 50 per cent increase in staffing at the vineyard.