A drink with.. Sam Weaver, Churton

Shropshire-born Sam Weaver swapped the London wine trade for the nascent grape-growing region of Marlborough, New Zealand in 1988. More than 30 years later, his two sons are taking over the reins of the family‘s biodynamically farmed Churton, which has recently become the country’s first traditionally ploughed vineyard

We are the first New Zealand estate to plough its vineyard by horse. We didn’t know if it would be possible, so we acquired an old single-furrow horse-drawn plough from the local agricultural museum. Having proved it worked by dragging it behind a baby Kubota tractor, we replaced the tractor with two Clydesdales.

Most Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs are regional blends and are very technically made, meaning there has been a lot of intervention. At Churton, we produce wines from a single terroir, cropping at low yields before fermenting the wines naturally with indigenous yeasts.

If I had to choose a favourite wine region outside Marlborough it would be Jurançon, a beautiful area in the foothills of the Pyrenees. They have such a strong attachment to their land, their culture and their terroir. Speaking of Jurançon, it’s a little-known fact but we are New Zealand’s first and biggest producer of Petit Manseng. In 2007, when we were expanding the vineyard, the nursery let us down with some Pinot Noir and asked if there was any way they could make amends. Their first importation of Petit Manseng vines had just been released from quarantine and knowing and loving the variety through my connection with the late Didier Dagueneau, I took every plant they had.

I’m most proud of breaking the conventional model of winemaking in New Zealand. Designing and planting Churton’s 23ha vineyard on a hillside is a model of what can be done with a farm ecosystem.