Winery’s land, assets and business
The property, infrastructure and business, comprising Marlborough’s only hillside boutique winery and vineyard, are for sale in the Omaka Valley.
Highfield TerraVin occupies a location with breath-taking views out across the surrounding wine growing country. Bayleys Marlborough viticulture and winery specialist, Mike Poff, points out that winery operations of this calibre seldom change hands in the area.
“Let alone a high-end operation like Highfield TerraVin, which has a well regarded 60-seat restaurant; cellar door and function venue.”
Poff says the multi-level building hosts a 781sq m winery operation; it has resource consent to crush up to 600 tonnes of grapes annually and comes with 144sq of office and laboratory space.
There is also 293sq m of restaurant and cellar door space and a 83sq m first-floor apartment residence.
The building, at the corner of Brookby and Dog Point Roads, was designed by Sir Michael Fowler and built in 1990. Production grew steadily over the years along with the dynamic Kiwi wine industry.
Production for the main two brands — Highfield and TerraVin — has been focused on premium quality sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and chardonnay from two vineyards.
Small pinot noir volumes come from the organic winery site, and fruit sourced from the TerraVin Hillside Vineyard Calrossie, at 4646 S H 1, in Seddon. Here, 28.97ha of northwest facing land is planted in low-yielding high-quality pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay.
Poff says Highfield TerraVin, Highfield Estate and Terravin Wines merged four years ago to secure economies of scale.
However, shareholders have decided to move on with other investments, putting the property was on the market to be sold. Hence, the Highfield and TerraVin portfolio is for sale by a tender process, closing 3pm, on March 21.
“Interested parties could make an offer for just the Highfield TerraVin winery and its surrounding homeblock; or for a single package, combining this property with the Terravin Hillside Vineyard.
“These brands produce awardwinning premium wines known world-wide. They’re used in high-end international restaurants and specialist wine stores, as well as on the domestic market,” says Poff.
“The winery is a verticallyintegrated complex including its own fruit receival, wine cellar, underground barrel room, cuvee room, storage rooms and bottling line — delivering all the cost benefits of being totally self-sufficient. This production efficiency flows through to both the cellar door retail business and the restaurant, both of which provide strong support for sales of Highfield and Terravin wines.”
He says food preparation and service chattels within the full commercial-grade kitchen includes ovens, hobs, grillers, fryers, walk-in freezer and refrigerator, dish-washer/ drying equipment, and extensive stainless-steel benching. Tables, chairs, crockery and cutlery are also included in the offering.
“The business model operates on multiple revenue streams: production, retailing, and foodservice/ hospitality, which are all linked to the core product of wine,” says Poff.
“The one-bedroom apartment within the complex can be occupied as an owner/manager’s dwelling, or recently it has been rented on Airbnb and with consistent occupancy. Vines at both vineyards are well-established and produce consistently highquality fruit.”