Escarpment Vineyard

Larry McKenna was born in Australia and graduated from Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia in 1976, the country's pre-eminent oenology school of the era. He cut his teeth at Delegat's Wine Estate in Auckland before, in 1986, taking the position of chief winemaker and chief executive of Martinborough Vineyard, then a young estate in the small Wairarapa town that had been identified by soil scientist Dr Derek Milne as climatically analogous to Burgundy. McKenna was the first formally trained wine professional working in Martinborough, and although he had never made Pinot Noir before, his first vintage, the 1986 Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir, won gold medals. Over the next 13 years he grew the company from 20 to 160 tonnes and established Martinborough Vineyard as one of the New World's pre-eminent Pinot Noir producers. Alongside Clive Paton of Ata Rangi, McKenna is widely credited as the principal figure responsible for putting New Zealand Pinot Noir on the international map during the late 1980s and 1990s. He was instrumental in founding the Southern Pinot Noir Workshop in 1991, the technical exchange forum that has bound the New Zealand Pinot Noir community ever since. By 1998 McKenna had decided to build his own estate; he purchased the Te Muna Road property in late 1998, and Escarpment Vineyard was established the following year.

• Graduated Roseworthy Agricultural College, South Australia, 1976; worked at Delegat's Wine Estate in Auckland before moving to the Wairarapa
• Chief winemaker and CEO of Martinborough Vineyard 1986 to 1999; first trained wine professional in Martinborough; first vintage 1986 won gold medals despite no prior Pinot Noir experience
• Grew Martinborough Vineyard from 20 to 160 tonnes; co-founded the Southern Pinot Noir Workshop 1991, still operating today
• Recognised alongside Clive Paton (Ata Rangi) as a founding figure of premium New Zealand Pinot Noir

The Escarpment property at 51 Te Muna Road, Martinborough was purchased in late 1998, and the vineyard was established in 1999. The founding partnership was a joint venture between Larry and Sue McKenna of Martinborough and Australian investors Robert and Mem Kirby. Te Muna Road, whose name means a secret or special place in te reo Maori, runs along the southern edge of Martinborough and shares an alluvial terrace with neighbours including Craggy Range's Te Muna Road property and Ata Rangi. The site sits on the Martinborough Terrace, deposited by the Huangarua River over the past 20,000 years, with very deep alluvial gravels underlying alluvial loams that are over 75,000 years old. This combination of warm, free-draining gravels at depth and shallow loams at the surface produces low vigour, naturally restricted yields, and concentrated fruit. The vineyard overlooks the Aorangi Ranges, whose three flat-topped hills are known in Maori tradition as Nga Waka-o-Kupe, the three canoes of Kupe, said to have been left by the navigator who discovered Aotearoa New Zealand. This direct connection between the site and Kupe's voyaging story informed McKenna's decision to label his single-vineyard Pinot Noirs after Maori figures of Polynesian navigation. The estate built its own winery on site, and from the early 2000s the Escarpment range emerged across a regional Pinot Noir, the single-vineyard Pinot Noirs Kupe, Kiwa, Pahi, and Te Rehua, and a small range of white wines including Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Riesling.

• Property at 51 Te Muna Road, Martinborough purchased in late 1998; Escarpment Vineyard established 1999
• Founding partnership: Larry and Sue McKenna with Australian investors Robert and Mem Kirby
• Site on the Martinborough Terrace alluvial gravels of Te Muna Road; alluvial loams over 75,000 years old layered on very deep gravels deposited by the Huangarua River
• Overlooks the Aorangi Ranges, known in Maori tradition as Nga Waka-o-Kupe, the three canoes left by the navigator Kupe; this connection inspired the Maori-named single-vineyard Pinot Noirs

Escarpment's identity rests on a Burgundian organising principle: rather than blending across the estate, the best Pinot Noir parcels are bottled individually and named after the vineyards from which they came. Each of the four single-vineyard wines is in turn named for a figure or element of Polynesian navigation, anchoring the wines to the Maori tradition of Aotearoa. Kupe, the flagship, is named for the great Polynesian navigator who, according to Maori oral history, discovered New Zealand and whose three canoes are commemorated in the Aorangi Ranges above the vineyard; it is widely regarded by critics including Bob Campbell MW as a benchmark for top-tier New Zealand Pinot Noir. Kiwa takes its name from a Maori male divine guardian of the ocean honoured on the East Coast of the North Island; the Pacific Ocean itself is poetically called Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the great ocean of Kiwa. Pahi is the name of the large Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe used for the long open-water passages of Pacific settlement; James Cook observed Tahitian pahi up to 23 metres long that sailed faster than HMB Endeavour. Te Rehua is the Maori name for the star Antares, the bright red star at the heart of the constellation Scorpius, used by Polynesian navigators as a celestial waypoint and revered in Maori tradition as a figure of mana and healing. The Escarpment regional Pinot Noir is sourced more broadly across the Te Muna Road estate. The whites include Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Riesling, made in restrained Burgundian and Alsace-influenced styles consistent with the house philosophy.

• Kupe (flagship single-vineyard Pinot Noir): named for the Polynesian navigator credited in Maori oral history with discovering Aotearoa New Zealand; widely regarded as a benchmark New Zealand Pinot Noir
• Kiwa (single-vineyard Pinot Noir): named for the Maori ocean guardian, namesake of the Pacific Ocean Te Moana Nui a Kiwa
• Pahi (single-vineyard Pinot Noir): named for the Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe used to settle the Pacific
• Te Rehua (single-vineyard Pinot Noir): named for the Maori name of the star Antares, a navigational waypoint and figure of mana in Maori tradition
• Escarpment regional Pinot Noir blends across Te Muna estate parcels; whites include Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Riesling in restrained European styles

Larry McKenna was inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame in 2014 and subsequently received the Sir George Fistonich Medal for services to the New Zealand wine industry, formal recognition of his role in shaping the country's Pinot Noir identity over four decades. Across that period Escarpment built a critical reputation matched by very few New Zealand Pinot Noir producers; Bob Campbell MW and Raymond Chan repeatedly placed Kupe and the other single-vineyard wines among the country's elite Pinot Noirs, and Larry McKenna was a finalist for New Zealand Winemaker of the Year in 2020. In December 2018 it was announced that Torbreck Vintners of the Barossa Valley, the Australian producer owned by American businessman Pete Kight, had agreed to acquire Escarpment. Following Overseas Investment Office approval the transaction closed in July 2019, making Escarpment the first significant Australian-owned acquisition in Martinborough. McKenna remained at the winery through the transition before stepping down from day-to-day winemaking in 2022 after 23 vintages at Escarpment. Tim Bourne, who had worked under McKenna, took over as winemaker, with Rowan Hoskins continuing as viticulturist; the estate has maintained the single-vineyard structure and Maori-named labels under the new regime. Escarpment is certified under Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, the country's national vineyard and winery sustainability programme, and continues to farm the Te Muna Road site under Burgundian-inspired, site-specific principles consistent with McKenna's original vision.

• Larry McKenna inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame in 2014; awarded the Sir George Fistonich Medal for services to the New Zealand wine industry
• Acquired by Torbreck Vintners (Barossa Valley, owned by American Pete Kight) in July 2019 following December 2018 announcement and OIO approval; first Australian acquisition in Martinborough
• Larry McKenna stepped down from day-to-day winemaking in 2022 after 23 vintages; Tim Bourne is current winemaker, Rowan Hoskins continues as viticulturist
• Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) certified; single-vineyard Burgundian model retained under new ownership