'True expression' found at cellar door

Chris Wilcock of Ashridge speaks to guests of the Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand 'pop up' restaurant at Ash Ridge boutique vineyard. Photo / Warren Buckland

Summer is about relaxing with friends and enjoying a glass of wine. Hawke’s Bay is known for its fine wines. In this summer series, Roger Moroney profiles our best-known wineries.

Chris and Sonya Wilcock are relative newcomers to the Hawke's Bay winemaking landscape but you wouldn't know it going by the accolades and awards that have come their way over the past few years - including being named Hawke's Bay Winery of the Year at last year's Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards.

Not bad for the winery they called Ash Ridge and which only produced its first vintage in 2007.

And it was the second time they have have been named winery of the year.

A remarkable achievement, but testimony to what Chris Wilcock said in the wake of their second award - was "a lot of hard work".

In 2013, they invested further in the Bay's wine industry by opening the doors to their own on-site winery.

Before then, their wines had been produced at other sites.

As well as the winery, the couple have focused on the cellar door - making it an attraction in itself - and creating what they call a "true expression of the vineyard".

They are among the wineries in what has become known as the Bridge Pa Triangle - a site they first spotted nearly 15 years ago.

Winemaking was not in the picture back then, with life centred around foreign exchange trading rooms in places such as London, Zurich and Singapore.

Chris Wilcock spent 15 years in the trading game before making the decision to put the money they had saved into a new direction, and a new life.

And he was keen to learn all he could about the winemaking business.

The couple spotted two potential sites on the fertile land on the western edge of the Heretaunga Plains where the Ngaruroro once flowed before its course changed.

Fine free-draining red soils and gravel form what is now the Cardoness Vineyard, while the Peet Vineyard is effectively the spark for their name.

It is a ridge of ash pumice left there after thousands of years of volcanic activity, and it is that structure which adds the extra character and distinction to their Bordeaux varieties of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc.

The Cardoness site produces premium syrah, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

In 2005, the first vines went in, and, two years later, the Wilcocks were able to toast the emergence of their first vintage.

And they have never looked back, with the medals and awards arriving.

Chris Wilcock did his winemaking and production studying at the EIT, as did winemaker Lauren Swift who joined the crew a couple of years ago ... and came under the spotlight in 2013 when Ash Ridge's merlot took a gold trophy at the Hawke's Bay awards.

Ash Ridge has become a prime part of the region's winemaking, and the cellar door, set amid olive groves along with the cafe where fine platters are served, has become a destination for people wanting to try fine wines in a great landscape with views towards the ranges.

Ash Ridge has been primarily focused on the domestic market but Chris Wilcock said they might switch their focus to international sales in the years to come.

Their detailed approach and passion for the business, as well as the fine wines being produced from that red soil and ash, ensures that they will enjoy continued success.

Check out

Ash Ridge Winery, 2543 SH50, Hastings.
Try: Syrah 2013, Viognier 2013, Chardonnay 2012.
Cellar Door: October to April, 10am to 5pm, seven days; May to September, 11am to 4pm, seven days.
Contact: cellar@ashridgewines.co.nz