Esk Valley Estate

Esk Valley's story begins in 1933 when Englishman Robert Bird established Glenvale Winery & Cellars on a coastal hillside at Bay View, the northernmost end of the Hawke's Bay wine region, about ten kilometres north of Napier. Bird built the original winery and cellars himself, including concrete fermentation vats that, almost a century later, are still in use today (alongside replica tanks built to the same design when capacity needed to expand). For the first four decades Glenvale produced the fortified wines that dominated New Zealand commercial wine production through the middle of the twentieth century: ports, sherries, and similar styles aimed at a domestic market that had not yet developed a serious appetite for dry table wine. The transition began in the 1970s, when Glenvale launched an Esk Valley sub-brand to sell the kinds of table wines that consumers were starting to demand. The full pivot, and the modern identity of the estate, arrived in two stages in the mid-1980s: in 1986 Sir George Fistonich, the founder of Villa Maria Wines, purchased the property and committed it entirely to premium table wine production; in 1988 the historic Glenvale name was retired and the winery was rebranded as Esk Valley Estate.

• Founded 1933 by Englishman Robert Bird as Glenvale Winery & Cellars at Bay View, north of Napier; original concrete fermenters cast by Bird are still in use today
• Produced fortified wines (port, sherry styles) through the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, in line with the dominant New Zealand commercial wine model of the period
• Launched an Esk Valley sub-brand in the 1970s to start producing dry table wines
• Sir George Fistonich purchased the property in 1986 for Villa Maria; the full rebrand to Esk Valley Estate followed in 1988, with focus shifted entirely to premium table wines

Bay View sits at the northern coastal end of Hawke's Bay and is climatically and geologically the opposite of the inland Gimblett Gravels. Where Gimblett Gravels is warm, free-draining alluvial stone left behind by the Ngaruroro River, Bay View is cooler, more maritime, and built on clay-limestone soils with seashell and volcanic-ash layers (a reminder that the Pacific is only a few hundred metres from the cellar door). Sea breezes moderate ripening, favouring structured Syrah, refined Bordeaux blends, and aromatic whites such as Pinot Gris and Riesling. The defining feature of the Bay View site is the hillside directly above the winery. In the 1940s, Robert Bird hand-cut a series of steeply pitched terraces into that north-west-facing slope, planted them, and tried to make wine from them. The vineyard was a labour of love but a commercial failure: yields from the terraces were so low and the cost of hand-working them so high that the block was abandoned and allowed to revert to pine forest. It stayed that way for nearly three decades. In 1989, the pines were felled and the terraces re-cleared and replanted, this time to a Bordeaux palette of Malbec (about 43% of the vines), Merlot (about 35%), and Cabernet Franc, with a small Syrah block added at the top of the hill in 2007. The first commercial harvest from the replanted terraces came in 1991 as The Terraces, and the vineyard remains the only steeply terraced site of its kind in New Zealand: roughly one hectare, hand-pruned, hand-picked, and worked entirely without machinery.

• Bay View is the cooler, coastal northern end of Hawke's Bay (about 10 km north of Napier), with clay-limestone soils, seashell and volcanic-ash layers, and significant maritime influence from the Pacific
• Climatically distinct from inland Gimblett Gravels: cooler, more maritime, longer ripening; suited to Syrah, Bordeaux blends, and aromatic whites
• The Terraces vineyard was hand-cut into a north-west-facing hillside above the winery by Robert Bird in the 1940s, abandoned to pine forest, then re-cleared and replanted in 1989
• Roughly 1 hectare; field blend of ~43% Malbec, ~35% Merlot, balance Cabernet Franc, with a small Syrah block added at the top of the hill in 2007; the only steeply terraced vineyard of its kind in New Zealand

The Terraces is the wine that defines Esk Valley's place in New Zealand fine wine and is one of the country's most distinctive single-site reds. The 1991 inaugural vintage was the first to emerge from the replanted hillside, and the wine is produced only in the very best years (fewer than 20 vintages have been released since 1991). The winemaking is built around the field blend principle: rather than picking each variety separately and blending the finished wines, every block on the hillside is harvested on a single day and co-fermented together. The fruit goes into a single open-topped concrete fermenter, ferments naturally, is hand-plunged repeatedly during cap management, is pressed off skins, and is then aged for around 17 months in French oak barrel. The result is a wine of unusual coherence: the Malbec gives violet aromatics and inky colour, the Merlot adds flesh and mid-palate weight, the Cabernet Franc contributes graphite-like spine and herbal lift, and the small Syrah component (in vintages where it is included) adds a peppery savoury edge. Bob Campbell MW has scored multiple vintages in the mid- to high-90s (including 96/100 for the 2016), James Suckling has placed the wine on Top 100 NZ lists, and the 2019 vintage drew particular praise for its underlying power and ageability. From 2014 the wine has carried the Heipipi The Terraces label, marking it as part of the Heipipi top tier (named for the pre-European Māori pā that stood on the same hillside and was famously never conquered by attack).

• Inaugural commercial vintage 1991; released only in the best years (fewer than 20 vintages total)
• Field blend method: all blocks harvested on a single day and co-fermented together in a single open-topped concrete fermenter; hand-plunged; aged ~17 months in French oak
• Now labelled Heipipi The Terraces, anchoring the Heipipi top tier (named for the never-conquered pā that stood on the same hillside)
• Critical record: Bob Campbell MW 96/100 for 2016; consistently mid-90s scores from James Suckling, Vinous, and Decanter; regular trophy winner at NZ wine awards

Esk Valley's range is organised into four tiers. The Estate range is the entry tier: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Bordeaux-style blends drawn from both Hawke's Bay and Marlborough fruit; reliable, well-made, and the wines most New Zealand consumers encounter at retail. The Winemakers Reserve tier steps up to single-region, often single-block sources, with the most celebrated examples being the Gimblett Gravels Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec (the 2024 vintage won a trophy at the 2025 Hawke's Bay Wine Awards), the Reserve Syrah, and the Reserve Chardonnay. The Heipipi range is the small-volume top tier, anchored by Heipipi The Terraces and including a small portfolio of premium single-vineyard Bordeaux varietals and Syrah. The Artisanal Collection, developed under Richard Painter, is the experimental laboratory: small-lot, hand-crafted wines including a barrel-fermented Chardonnay, a Malbec-dominant red blend, a whole-cluster fermented Syrah, and occasional bottlings of less-common Hawke's Bay varieties such as Albariño. Across all tiers, the estate works with an unusually broad palette of grapes — Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Verdelho, and Pinot Noir — reflecting both the breadth of Hawke's Bay's sub-climates and the experimental tradition that Gordon Russell built and Richard Painter continues.

• Estate range: entry tier; Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Bordeaux blends from Hawke's Bay and Marlborough fruit
• Winemakers Reserve: single-region, often single-block; Gimblett Gravels Merlot/Cabernet/Malbec (2024 vintage won trophy at 2025 Hawke's Bay Wine Awards), Reserve Syrah, Reserve Chardonnay
• Heipipi: small-volume top tier; Heipipi The Terraces anchors the range; named for the pre-European Māori pā on the same hillside
• Artisanal Collection: Richard Painter's small-lot experimental range; barrel-fermented Chardonnay, Malbec-dominant red, whole-cluster Syrah, and emerging varieties including Albariño

The modern style of Esk Valley is, more than anything, the work of Gordon Russell, who joined Villa Maria as a cellar hand in 1987, moved to Esk Valley as assistant winemaker under Grant Edmonds in 1990, and was appointed senior winemaker in 1993. Russell ran the cellar for 30 consecutive vintages, expanded the grape range, refined the field-blend approach on The Terraces, and built the estate's reputation as one of New Zealand's most distinctive red wine producers. He was a New Zealand Winemaker of the Year finalist in 2020 and a fixture at international wine tastings and trade shows for two decades. In mid-2023, following Indevin's restructuring of the Villa Maria portfolio it had acquired in 2021, the senior winemaker position at Esk Valley was made redundant and Russell stepped down. The winery is now supported by Indevin's broader winemaking team, with Richard Painter — named New Zealand Winemaker of the Year in 2018 — leading the cellar and driving the Artisanal Collection. The continuity matters: the original Bird concrete fermenters, the hand-cut terraces, the field-blend protocol, and the multi-tier portfolio structure all carry forward unchanged. Russell himself has continued to be active in New Zealand wine under his own Gordon Russell Wines label.

• Gordon Russell: Villa Maria cellar hand 1987, assistant winemaker at Esk Valley under Grant Edmonds 1990, senior winemaker 1993-2023 (30 vintages); New Zealand Winemaker of the Year finalist 2020
• Russell's role was made redundant in mid-2023 following Indevin's restructuring of the Villa Maria portfolio acquired in 2021; he continues to make wine under the Gordon Russell Wines label
• Richard Painter (New Zealand Winemaker of the Year 2018) leads the winemaking team in 2026 and drives the Artisanal Collection
• Continuity preserved: original 1930s Bird concrete fermenters, the hand-cut terraces, the single-day field-blend protocol, and the four-tier portfolio all carry forward

Esk Valley has been part of the Villa Maria group since Sir George Fistonich bought Glenvale in 1986. Villa Maria itself was sold, with parent company FFWL Ltd, to Indevin Group in October 2021 after FFWL accumulated debts of more than NZ$200 million and was placed into receivership by ANZ and Rabobank. Indevin is a Marlborough-based, New Zealand-owned wine company, and the acquisition kept the entire Villa Maria portfolio (Villa Maria, Esk Valley, Vidal, Leftfield, and Thornbury) in New Zealand hands rather than seeing it broken up or sold offshore. The transaction included Villa Maria's Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, and Auckland wineries, all associated vineyards, supplier contracts, and the brands. For Esk Valley specifically, the immediate operational impact came in 2023 when Indevin's restructuring of the senior winemaker role led to Gordon Russell's departure; the brand, the Bay View site, the Terraces vineyard, and the Heipipi tier all continued unchanged. Indevin has framed Esk Valley as a specialist premium label within the broader group, with Hawke's Bay reds (especially the Heipipi range and the Gimblett Gravels Reserve wines) positioned as the strategic centre of gravity.

• Part of the Villa Maria group since 1986; rebranded Esk Valley in 1988
• Indevin acquired Villa Maria (and Esk Valley) in October 2021 from receivers Calibre Partners after parent company FFWL Ltd was placed into receivership owing more than NZ$200 million
• The deal kept Villa Maria, Esk Valley, Vidal, Leftfield, and Thornbury all in New Zealand hands; Indevin is Marlborough-based
• Esk Valley operates as a premium specialist label within the Indevin portfolio; Hawke's Bay reds (Heipipi and Gimblett Gravels Reserves) are the strategic focus