Stonecroft - Pioneers of Syrah, Custodians of the Gimblett Gravels.

Stonecroft, Hawke's Bay 

Stonecroft is a boutique winery producing world-class wines exclusively from the renowned Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District®. As the first producer of commercial Syrah in New Zealand, Stonecroft is deeply rooted in the region’s pioneering history. It remains the only winery crafting wines solely from Gimblett Gravels, with production in very limited quantities, making its wines rare and highly sought after. With a focus on sustainability, Stonecroft offers both organic and non-certified organic wines, all made with minimal intervention to showcase the purity of the terroir.

Join us on Monday 19 May to discover more.

 

Read more about Stonecroft's History

A single row of vines comprises Stonecroft’s original Syrah planting. These vines were planted in 1984 and are the oldest producing Syrah vines in New Zealand. They were rescued by Stonecroft’s founder, Dr. Alan Limmer, from the viticultural research vine collection at Te Kauwhata (now defunct).  The vines were probably originally imported from Australia around 1900 by Romeo Bragato, largely ignored, and then in the 1970’s became part of a research programme to test virus elimination techniques. Fortunately, this treatment was successful. Once the programme was completed, the research station had no use for the vines and they would have been discarded if Dr. Limmer had not uplifted the vines and planted them at Stonecroft.

 

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