Cable Bay Vineyards

Cable Bay Vineyards was established in 1998 when New Zealand winemaker Neill Culley planted the estate's first vines on the gentle clay-rich slopes above Church Bay on Waiheke Island, a 35-minute ferry ride east of downtown Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf. Culley, who came to the project with two decades of New Zealand winemaking experience plus a vintage at Simi in California, planted Chardonnay and Bordeaux varieties to test the warm maritime mesoclimate that had already drawn pioneer Waiheke producers including Stonyridge and Goldwater to the island during the 1980s. The name Cable Bay derived from a planned vineyard site nearby; when the project relocated next door to a more suitable parcel at Church Bay, the Cable Bay branding was already established and the name was retained for the wine company. The inaugural 2002 Chardonnay won a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge in London, an early validation that helped position Cable Bay among the new wave of Waiheke producers building on the foundation laid by Stonyridge Larose and the Goldwater family in the prior decade. The cellar door, winery, and restaurant complex at 12 Nick Johnstone Drive in Oneroa opened in 2007, designed and built with significant involvement from Auckland construction figure Loukas Petrou, managing director of Canam Construction, from 2006. After a financially difficult period in the mid-2010s that included external ownership, Culley and Petrou repurchased the company in 2017, returning Cable Bay to founder-led control with Culley resuming his role as winemaker and brand ambassador.

• Founded 1998 by winemaker Neill Culley on the Church Bay slopes of Waiheke Island; inaugural 2002 Chardonnay won gold at the International Wine Challenge in London
• Cable Bay name retained from a planned vineyard site after the project relocated next door to Church Bay; 4.5 hectare estate sits on warm clay-rich slopes above the Hauraki Gulf
• Cellar door, winery, and restaurant opened 2007 at 12 Nick Johnstone Drive, Oneroa, designed and built from 2006 with Loukas Petrou (managing director, Canam Construction)
• Culley and Petrou repurchased the company in 2017 after a period of external ownership and financial restructuring, returning Cable Bay to founder-led control

Cable Bay produces wine from two contrasting New Zealand wine regions: the warm maritime Waiheke Island estate and cool-climate estate blocks in Marlborough's Awatere Valley. The flagship Waiheke programme centres on three estate-grown styles. The Waiheke Reserve Syrah is the signature red, capturing the island's warm-island spice with black pepper, dark berry, lifted floral notes, and elegant medium-plus tannins. The Waiheke Reserve Chardonnay is structured, textural, and saline, with ripe stone fruit, subtle French oak, and the coastal freshness that defines Waiheke whites at the premium tier. Five Hills is the estate's Bordeaux-style blend, built around Malbec (typically around 70%) and Merlot (around 30%) and showing purple fruit, violet, dark currant, smoky mineral notes, and a fine medium-bodied palate with long mineral-driven finish. Beyond these three estate flagships, the Waiheke range also includes Reserve Pinot Gris (the 2019 received 93 points from both Cameron Douglas MW and James Suckling), Viognier, Marsanne, and a Reserve Merlot from estate blocks. The Marlborough programme covers the variety lineup that built the region's international reputation: Sauvignon Blanc grown in the cool, low-yielding Awatere Valley sub-region for its herbaceous precision and saline finish, plus Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay from the same Awatere holdings. All Marlborough fruit comes from estate-owned vineyards, distinguishing Cable Bay from many Waiheke producers who simply purchase contract Sauvignon Blanc fruit on the open market.

• Waiheke Reserve flagships: Reserve Syrah (black pepper, dark berry, florals), Reserve Chardonnay (textural, saline, ripe stone fruit), and Five Hills Bordeaux blend (Malbec ~70% / Merlot ~30%)
• Additional Waiheke estate wines: Reserve Pinot Gris (93 points, 2019 vintage from Cameron Douglas MW and James Suckling), Viognier, Marsanne, and Reserve Merlot
• Marlborough range: Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay grown on estate-owned blocks in the cool Awatere Valley sub-region
• Multi-region Cable Bay tier offers entry to mid-tier wines from both islands; estate Reserve tier represents the top of the Waiheke programme

The Waiheke estate sits on a 4.5 hectare site at Church Bay on the western end of the island, on gently sloping clay-rich loam soils that retain water through the dry Hauraki Gulf summer while providing the stress vines need to produce concentrated fruit. The mesoclimate is significantly warmer than mainland Auckland: the island sits in the rain shadow of the Coromandel Peninsula, receives high sunshine hours, and benefits from cooling sea breezes off the gulf that moderate afternoon temperatures and slow ripening at veraison. This warm-island profile suits Syrah and Bordeaux varieties exceptionally well, allowing reliable ripening of late-season grapes that struggle elsewhere in New Zealand. Chardonnay grown on Waiheke clay develops noticeably more weight, texture, and stone fruit ripeness than its Marlborough counterpart, and aromatic varieties including Pinot Gris, Viognier, and Marsanne reach phenolic ripeness without losing acidity on the cooling night-time gulf influence. The Marlborough estate blocks sit in the Awatere Valley, the cooler, drier, more elevated southern sub-region of Marlborough that ripens later than the Wairau Valley floor and produces Sauvignon Blanc with a more herbaceous, saline, and structurally austere profile than the more tropical Wairau style. Awatere Pinot Noir benefits from the same cool-climate signature, showing red fruit lift and fine acidic frame. All estate blocks across both regions are Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand accredited, with selected Waiheke plots BioGro certified organic.

• Waiheke estate: 4.5 hectares at Church Bay on warm clay-rich slopes; 35-minute ferry east of Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf, sheltered by the Coromandel rain shadow
• Warm maritime mesoclimate with high sunshine, cooling gulf breezes; ideal for Syrah, Bordeaux varieties, and richer textural Chardonnay
• Marlborough estate: cool, dry, elevated Awatere Valley blocks producing herbaceous, saline Sauvignon Blanc and structured Pinot Noir distinct from the Wairau Valley archetype
• All vineyards Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) accredited; selected Waiheke blocks BioGro certified organic

Cable Bay's cellar door, winery, and restaurant complex at 12 Nick Johnstone Drive in Oneroa opened in 2007 and has become one of Waiheke Island's most-visited wine destinations. The architecturally designed building sits high on the western end of the island with sweeping views across the Hauraki Gulf toward the Auckland CBD skyline, a setting that has helped make Cable Bay a fixture on Auckland-based wedding circuits and corporate hospitality calendars. The estate operates two restaurants: The Dining Room, the original 120-seat fine-dining space serving Mediterranean-influenced contemporary New Zealand cuisine, and The Verandah, opened in 2013 as a more casual al fresco option for visitors arriving for a wine tasting and lunch rather than a full evening tasting menu. The cellar door is open seven days a week from 11am to 5pm and offers guided tastings of the estate Waiheke wines plus the multi-region Marlborough range. The venue hosts approximately 25 weddings per year and employs roughly 27 people across hospitality, cellar door, and wine production. The combination of estate-grown wine, two restaurants, manicured organic gardens and olive groves, and panoramic city views has earned Cable Bay a Tripadvisor reputation among the top tourism destinations on Waiheke Island, complementing the wine business and exposing the brand to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who travel to Waiheke each year from Auckland and abroad.

• Cellar door, winery, and two restaurants at 12 Nick Johnstone Drive, Oneroa, Waiheke Island; opened 2007 with sweeping Hauraki Gulf and Auckland CBD skyline views
• Two restaurants: The Dining Room (120-seat fine dining, opened 2007) and The Verandah (casual al fresco, opened 2013); cellar door open 7 days, 11am to 5pm
• Approximately 25 weddings hosted annually; employs around 27 people across hospitality and wine operations
• One of the most-visited wine tourism destinations on Waiheke Island, leveraging the 35-minute ferry connection to Auckland and the island's status as a premium wine and food region