Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Winning supermarket spot ‘incredible opportunity’
A Marlborough family that has farmed the same piece of land for 143 years decided eight years ago that creating their own wine would become part of their history.
Caythorpe Family Estate’s third-ever vintage of chardonnay has now been voted one of the top bottles of wine in the country and will be sold in supermarkets across New Zealand for the first time.
Their 2021 chardonnay received a gold medal, the champion chardonnay trophy, and the White Wine of the Show title at this year's New World Wine Awards, meaning it will be on the shelves of more than 140 New World supermarkets for five weeks.
“It’s been a big job, but it's also been an incredible opportunity for us to get the brand out there, and a lot of people will be able to experience it that have never experienced it before, which is cool,” Caythorpe Family Estate director Simon Bishell said.
Bishell was the fifth generation of his family to farm the same patch of Marlborough since his great-great-grandfather bought the land in 1880.
Used solely as a mixed cropping farm for most of its history, Bishell’s parents planted cherry trees there in 1897, and the first grapevines the year after.
But it wasn’t until 2015 that they decided to retain some of the grapes they grew to create their own wine label, giving birth to Caythorpe Family Estate.
“I think the future of farming in New Zealand is all about adding as much value as you can at the farm gate, and this fits nicely into that. We want to try and add more value to the fruits of our labour on the vineyard and reaping some of that reward,” Bishell said.
“We've got the sixth generation (of our family) coming through. They're just very young now, but in the fullness of time, if they wanted to choose a career back in the family business, then if we can build a successful wine brand into the portfolio
, I guess it gives the family business more breadth and scope, and more opportunity for people to be involved.”
Bishell said the gold medal-winning bottle of wine was “only our third vintage of chardonnay”, made from grape vines planted only six years ago.
“I think as the vines mature and as we become sort of more confident in what we’re doing, its only up from here. There's still a lot to learn, and I think we can get better, so it's also been really cool to win the award with ... such a young vineyard, and not a lot of chardonnay experience under our belt.”
New World Wine Awards judges co-chair Sam Kim said Caythorpe’s entry was a “standout” amongst this year’s medallists.
“The family has been farming in Marlborough for generations but has only been operating their own wine brand for the past eight years,” Kim said.
“With a very small team running the wine business, one of whom also looks after the family’s cherry orchards when he’s not among the vines, this is truly a toast-worthy win.
“It’s a great opportunity for the brand to reach new customers, as well as a wonderful example to show how Marlborough’s breadth and depth extends well beyond its much-loved sauvignon blanc.”
Other Marlborough-made winners include wines from Black Cottage, Esk Valley, Giesen and Ara, The Coterie’s Massey Dacta, Misty Cove, Mount Riley, SOHO Family Vineyards, Stoneleigh, te Pā and Montford Estate, Triplebank and Vavasour.