TK Wines ripped out Nick Noblio's Gewürztraminer, replanting sauvignon blanc

Vinoptima Estate outside Gisborne. Photo / True Commercial

More than 20,000 Gewürztraminer vines at a winery near Gisborne have been ripped out after the business went into receivership.

The land is to be replanted with the more popular Sauvignon Blanc variety.

Steven Murray, chief executive of Tuaropaki which owns TK Wines, said the change was planned for the Vinoptima Estate.

TK bought the boutique winery founded by prominent vintner Nick Nobilo and is repositioning production to meet market demand.

The vineyard at 138 Ngakoroa Rd had just over 21,000 vines which will be replaced.

Receivers at BDO, Andrew Bethell and Andrew McKay, sold Vinoptima Estate's winery to TK Wines last year.

Nobilo had established the winery to specialise in premium Gewürztraminer wine but that venture failed with creditor claims of around $15 million.

Vinoptima accumulated a wine lake of more than 100,000 litres of Gewürztraminer. Vinoptima had been selling its variety for up to $75/bottle.

Now, the Māori entity has bought the winery and pulled up all the Nobilo vines it saw as unprofitable.

"We have removed all the old vines, purchased Sauvignon Blanc vines and we expect to plant this calendar year," Murray said.

TK Wines had no confidence in the Gewürztraminer operation at Vinoptima.

"The wine is difficult to market, in our view. If there was a demand for it, then it would not be still looking for a buyer," he said referring to the 100,000-litre wine lake of the variety.

"The cost to bottle, label and market the wine exceeds what we think is the value in the marketplace," Murray said.

TK Wines is 100 per cent-owned by Tuaropaki Kaitiaki, the Companies Office shows.

Murray, of Taupō is a director of TK Wines, along with Nachelle Griffiths. The company's registered address is at Tuaropaki Trust, 54 Tuwharetoa St, Taupō. TK Wines partially owned Vinoptima when it hit receivership.

Murray said the operating model used to run the vineyard was clearly unsustainable, referring to 2018's receivership.

Steven Murray with Minister Megan Woods and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

"While the estate previously made one of New Zealand's top Gewürztraminer, tastes changed, hence the wine surplus," Murray said, referring to the stock which the BDO receivers said in their latest report out last year they were still negotiating to sell.

That could be equivalent to around 130,000 bottles of the wine.

"Market conditions did not help sales," Murray said. "We are confident of returning the estate to profitability by leveraging our commercial experience, growing the Sauvignon Blanc variety and selling the grapes."

The estate had "amazing" boutique winemaking facilities which added to its appeal, he said.

TK's purchase price has not been made public by the receivers or Tuaropaki.

Kevin Courtney, a Marlborough vintner of Riverby Estate, backed Murray's comments about the variety change.

"The vineyard would be much more viable planted in sav. They would probably get over 16 tonnes per hectare and have a ready market for the grapes," Courtney said.

The 100,000-litre stock of Gewürztraminer was "pretty much equal to New Zealand's total annual Gewürztraminer exports," Courtney estimated.

Gewürztraminer was very much a niche variety but was once a major variety in this country.

The first New Zealand vines were planted in Gisborne in the 1970s, he said. By 2008, there was 316ha planted but that dropped to 193ha by last year.

Pinot Gris in the same period went from 1383ha to 2774ha and had virtually taken Gewürztraminer's place in the market, he said.

"There are so many new varieties coming onto the market all the time, such as Gruner Veltliner and Albarino in recent years. They tend to steal market share from some existing varieties. Some new varieties crash and burn fairly quickly, such as Viognier, Sauvignon Gris and Arneis," Courtney said.

Gewürztraminer production would probably consolidate around its current level, he said.

Despite its struggles, it is a premium variety and does have a very solid fan base - Courtney concluded.

"The percentage of Gewürztraminer producers who would be considered premium producers is quite high, so if the public is prepared to pay more than $20 a bottle, they are highly likely to get very good wine," Courtney said.

In 2019, the Herald reported how Vinoptima remained unsold months after the receivership was called.

McKay said at the time that numbers put forward by would-be buyers were too low so no deals were done.

"The offers for the property were not acceptable at the time the tender closed and subsequent [interest] has not been fantastic," he said three years ago.

The estate is in two blocks: 5.35ha planted in 10,775 vines in 2007 and 5.11ha planted in 10,455 vines in 2000. The 533sq m winery was built in 2003 and has a crushing plant, sterile air-conditioned bottling room, walk-in chiller, storage and a self-contained manager/wine maker's residence, according to marketing at the time.

The first receivers' report showed Vinoptima had debts of around $15m, far short of assets that are listed with a cost value of $9.2m, potentially meaning it will be unable to repay creditors and shareholders.