There is always a sense of relief when the grapes are safely delivered to the winery.   The fruit looks great and we are confident of some wonderful wine.  Be patient, though.  It will be at least 18 months before it is available

It is hard to believe that we are already into the second week of the New Year.  We have been very busy at the cellar door since Christmas and have enjoyed meeting people from all over NZ and from overseas as well as catching up again with some of our ‘regulars’.  Most tasters are delighted with our current wines – many mentioning that they love them all!

Unfortunately we have sold out of our 2010 Goldfields Pinot noir – thanks to Michael Cooper naming it his ‘Best Red Wine Buy of the Year’ in his ’2013 Buyer’s Guide to NZ Wines’.  However, the good news is that there is still plenty of the 2009 vintage left – and it is drinking beautifully!  And, of course, the 2010 Goldfields may still be available at your local wine store so check it out soon if you want to get some!

Our cellar door is open every day from 11am – 5pm until the end of January and would love to see you if you are in our area.

But if you can’t make it to the cellar door you can still order on-line or by emailing us.

Here’s to a great vintage in 2013!

Only 6 weeks since being awarded ‘Champion Wine of the Show’ at the New Zealand International Wine Show for our 2010 Barrel Selection Pinot noir, our 2010 Goldfields Pinot noir has been selected by Michael Cooper as the ‘Best Buy Red Wine of the Year’!

He describes this wine as, “Invitingly deep and youthful in colour, with bold cherry, plum, spice and slight liquorice flavours, earthy, smoky notes adding complexity, and a finely textured, lingering finish. It’s a ‘serious’ yet ‘sexy’ wine that dances across your palate, yet hints at unexplored potential.”

Both award-winning wines are available from our on-line shop or by contacting us directly.

Well, what a few weeks it has been since the announcement of the Champion Wine of the Show at the NZ International Wine Show at the end of September.

We have featured in a few newspaper articles and have been busy responding to orders from trade customers and our cellar door/mail order customers as well.

Also during the last month we have released our 2012 Cathy’s Rosé and Marlene’s Grüner Veltliner – just in time for summer!  We are delighted with both wines and look forward to sharing them with our customers at the cellar door over the summer months.  They will also be available in selected restaurants and wine shops – as well as directly from us or our on-line shop.

Keep watching this space over the next two or three weeks.  We expect to some more exciting news!

What an exciting night for us at the awards dinner for the 2012 NZ International Wine Show last night.

Our Barrel Selection Pinot noir 2010 won the Trophy for the Champion Pinot noir and was then named ‘Champion Wine of the Show’!  With 2122 wines from 13 countries judged, that is quite an achievement!

What a buzz!  With a record to date of 22 Gold medals and 15 Five-star awards, this win caps them all.

We were delighted to be able to attend the awards dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Auckland and to walk up on stage – twice -to receive the awards.

These awards make the hard work – and the hard times – all worthwhile and give us great confidence in the future.

Our thanks to Jen Parr, winemaker, who crafted this wonderful wine – and who was awarded the Trophy for Winemaker of the Show!

Our 2010 Barrel Selection Pinot noir is not available on-line yet, but you can order yours now by contacting us directly via this website, email or phone.

Click here to see the official results page from the New Zealand International Wine Show.

Bannock Brae is collecting more GOLD medals.

Our 2010 Goldfields Pinot noir won GOLD at the recent Bragato Wine Awards.

Then, this week, it won another GOLD at the NZ International Wine Show – AND, so did our 2010 Barrel Selection Pinot noir!

Our grateful thanks go to Jen Parr, our winemaker, who continues to apply her fantastic skills to our fruit.

Sorry, we haven’t been very good at keeping up the news on our website.  We have been somewhat preoccupied with pruning over the past three months – but now it is finished!  With bud-burst only a few weeks away, we managed to finish just in time.

Let’s hope the coming season is kind to us.  We are very keen to keep producing gold-medal winning wine.

Keep a look out for the release of our 2012 Gruener Veltliner and our 2012 Cathy’s Rose.  These delicious ‘summer’ varieties will be available in November – just in time for Christmas.

Welcome to Bannock Brae’s new website! This page will soon be updated with the latest news. In the mean time, please feel free to browse our new site and online shop.