Vidal Estate

Vidal Estate's story is one of immigration, family apprenticeship, and the slow recognition that Hawke's Bay was capable of world-class wine. Anthony Joseph Vidal, born Antonio Jose Vidal in Spain, sailed from his home country in 1888 with what family lore remembers as an apple and a penny in his pocket. He came to New Zealand at the invitation of his uncle Joseph Soler, a third-generation Catalan winemaker from Tarragona who had arrived in Whanganui in 1866 and built one of the country's earliest commercial wineries; Soler famously won six prizes at the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition, putting New Zealand on the world wine stage for the first time. Vidal spent eleven years in Whanganui working alongside his uncle, then made two failed attempts to establish himself independently in Whanganui and Palmerston North before identifying Hawke's Bay as a region of genuine viticultural promise. In 1905 he purchased an old racing stable on St Aubyn Street East in Hastings, converted it into a rudimentary cellar, and began making wine; the Vidal family oral history holds that he brought vine cuttings with him from Constanti, near Tarragona. The winery became the third in Hawke's Bay after the French Marist Mission Estate (1851) and Te Mata Estate (1896), and remained family-owned through the early decades of the twentieth century. In 1976 the business was acquired by Sir George Fistonich, founder of Villa Maria Estate, who saw Vidal as a heritage brand that could anchor his group's Hawke's Bay presence. Three years later, Fistonich opened a restaurant at the Hastings winery; doing so required lobbying for a change to New Zealand's liquor licensing legislation, which had previously prohibited wineries from selling wine for on-site consumption alongside food. The Vidal Winery Restaurant became the first of its kind in the country and operated continuously for thirty-nine years.

• Anthony Joseph Vidal arrived in New Zealand in 1888 and apprenticed for eleven years under his uncle Joseph Soler, a Catalan pioneer winemaker from Tarragona who had settled in Whanganui in 1866
• Vidal founded the winery in 1905 by converting an old racing stable on St Aubyn Street East in Hastings; family oral history records that he brought vine cuttings from Constanti, near Tarragona
• Third Hawke's Bay winery after Mission Estate (1851) and Te Mata Estate (1896); Joseph Soler's six prizes at the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition established the broader Spanish-Catalan winemaking legacy in New Zealand
• Acquired by Sir George Fistonich's Villa Maria Estate in 1976; Fistonich opened New Zealand's first winery restaurant on the Hastings site in 1979 after lobbying for changes to liquor licensing law

Vidal's current portfolio is built around a single quality tier, the seven-wine Reserve range, after the Legacy Series and Soler tier were retired in recent years. The Reserve range now defines the brand and covers Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough), Pinot Gris (Hawke's Bay), Chardonnay (Hawke's Bay), Rosé (Hawke's Bay), Pinot Noir (Marlborough), Syrah (Hawke's Bay), and Merlot-Cabernet (Hawke's Bay). Reserve Chardonnay is the standard-bearer for the line, in the trophy-winning style that took out Air New Zealand Wine Awards Chardonnay trophies in 2006 and 2007. Reserve Syrah and Reserve Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon draw on Gimblett Gravels fruit from the same Omahu, Ngakirikiri, and Vidal blocks that anchored the discontinued Legacy reds. Above the Reserve range sat the Legacy Series, which held the apex for two decades and earned Vidal its modern critical reputation. The Legacy Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot was a Gimblett Gravels blend at typically around 80 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and 20 per cent Merlot, matured 19 months in French oak barriques with around 50 per cent new, with the 2013 through 2016 vintages particularly celebrated; the 2019 vintage was the final release. The Legacy Series also included a Gimblett Gravels Syrah that earned regular trophy-level recognition and a barrel-fermented Hawke's Bay Chardonnay. Between Legacy and Reserve sat the Soler range, named after the founder's uncle Joseph Soler, with a Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (typically around 75 per cent Merlot, 25 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 months in French oak with around 22 per cent new) and a Hawke's Bay Chardonnay; the Soler tier has since been wound back as the portfolio consolidated around Reserve.

• Current Reserve range (seven wines): Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough), Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rosé, Syrah, Merlot-Cabernet (all Hawke's Bay), and Pinot Noir (Marlborough)
• Reserve Chardonnay is the line's standard-bearer; took Air New Zealand Wine Awards Chardonnay trophies in 2006 and 2007 and remains the flagship white
• Discontinued Legacy Series (final vintage 2019): Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot from Omahu, Ngakirikiri, and Vidal blocks (around 80% Cab Sauv), Gimblett Gravels Syrah, and a Hawke's Bay Chardonnay
• Former Soler range (named after founder's uncle Joseph Soler): Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (typically Merlot-dominant) and Hawke's Bay Chardonnay; tier has been wound back as Reserve became the focus

Vidal's modern identity is bound to the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District, the roughly 800-hectare gravel-soil triangle north-west of Hastings whose stony soils were deposited by the ancient course of the Ngaruroro River before a major flood in the 1860s diverted the river south. The district was historically considered too barren for orcharding and was almost mined for road metal in the 1980s before a group of Hawke's Bay growers (including Villa Maria) recognised the warm, rapidly draining soils as ideal for late-ripening red varieties and successfully protected the land for viticulture. Vidal sources its top reds from three named Gimblett Gravels blocks: the Omahu, Ngakirikiri, and Vidal vineyards, all planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah on the distinctive greywacke gravels that store heat through the night and force vines to root deeply. The Gravels site sits in one of the warmest mesoclimates in Hawke's Bay, accumulating heat-summation units comparable to Bordeaux's Right Bank, which gives Vidal's Cabernet-Merlot blends the ripeness and tannin structure to mature for ten to fifteen years in bottle. Chardonnay is sourced more broadly across Hawke's Bay, including from the Bridge Pa Triangle district immediately south of the Gravels, where heavier red metal soils over limestone deliver fruit with greater natural acidity and stone-fruit aromatics. Vineyard work is conducted under Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand certification across the Villa Maria group's holdings, with hand-harvested fruit reserved for the top Reserve bottlings and, historically, the Soler and Legacy tiers.

• Three named Gimblett Gravels blocks (Omahu, Ngakirikiri, and Vidal) underpin the current Reserve Syrah and Merlot-Cabernet and historically anchored the Legacy and Soler reds; planted on greywacke gravels deposited by the ancient Ngaruroro River
• Gimblett Gravels district covers approximately 800 hectares; protected from gravel mining in the 1980s by a coalition of growers including Villa Maria, who recognised its warm, free-draining soils
• Heat-summation comparable to Bordeaux's Right Bank; warmest mesoclimate in Hawke's Bay; gravels store heat overnight and force deep rooting for vine stress and concentrated fruit
• Chardonnay sourced across Hawke's Bay including Bridge Pa Triangle (heavier red metal soils over limestone) for cooler-climate stone-fruit aromatics and acidity

Vidal's winemaking philosophy under the modern Villa Maria and Indevin eras has emphasised classical structure and ageability over showy fruit-forward styles. Hugh Crichton, who joined Vidal as part of the winemaking team in 2004 and was promoted to chief winemaker in 2006, defined this approach for nearly two decades before leaving for Elephant Hill in 2024. The discontinued Legacy Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot was hand-picked across multiple passes through the Gimblett Gravels vineyards to capture different ripeness levels, then fermented in small open-top tanks with extended skin contact of around three weeks before transfer to French oak barriques (around 50 per cent new) for 19 months of maturation. Legacy Syrah followed similar discipline but with whole-bunch fermentation in some vintages to add pepper and floral lift, ageing in French oak with around 25 to 30 per cent new wood. The Soler range applied the same approach with reduced new-oak percentages, typically around 22 per cent new French oak, and slightly shorter elevage to preserve more primary fruit. The current Reserve range carries this philosophy forward in a more accessible form: Reserve Syrah and Merlot-Cabernet are still drawn largely from the Gimblett Gravels and matured in French oak with lower new-wood percentages, and Reserve Chardonnay continues the whole-bunch pressed, barrel-fermented, full-malolactic style with around 10 months on lees and periodic battonage that defined Crichton's trophy-winning Chardonnays of the late 2000s. The Hastings facility was famous in its later years for its underground barrel hall converted from the old racing stable, but since the 2018 move to The Gravels, all Vidal winemaking has been consolidated alongside Villa Maria, Esk Valley, and Te Awa Collection in a single state-of-the-art facility on State Highway 50.

• Hugh Crichton was chief winemaker 2006 to 2024 (joined Vidal team in 2004); defined the modern Legacy, Soler, and Reserve styles before moving to Elephant Hill in 2024
• Discontinued Legacy Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot: hand-picked across multiple passes, fermented with around three weeks on skins, 19 months in French oak barriques (around 50% new)
• Former Soler range: similar approach with around 22% new French oak and shorter elevage to retain primary fruit; Soler Cabernet-Merlot blend was typically Merlot-dominant
• Current Reserve Chardonnay: whole-bunch pressed, fermented in French oak with full malolactic, around 10 months on lees with battonage in the Crichton style

Vidal's modern chapter has been shaped by two ownership transitions and one site relocation that together ended 113 years of continuous winemaking in central Hastings. Sir George Fistonich purchased Vidal in 1976 as part of his Villa Maria Estate group's expansion into Hawke's Bay, and for forty-two years the brand operated from its original 1905 site on St Aubyn Street East, where the underground barrel hall converted from Anthony Vidal's racing stable was a tourist attraction in its own right. The Hastings facility closed permanently on 30 June 2018, with the company citing the residential surroundings and the practical difficulty of expanding production on a site that had outgrown itself. From 1 October 2018, the existing Te Awa winery at 2375 State Highway 50 became The Gravels, a consolidated Hawke's Bay base for Vidal, Esk Valley, Te Awa Collection, and Villa Maria, with all Hawke's Bay and Gisborne fruit now processed at the new site. In December 2021, after Villa Maria entered receivership earlier that year following financial difficulties, the contract winemaking specialist Indevin Group completed its acquisition of the entire Villa Maria business, including the Vidal brand, the Villa Maria flagship label, Esk Valley, Te Awa Collection, Leftfield, and Thornbury, alongside vineyards and supplier agreements across Marlborough, Hawke's Bay, and Auckland. Under Indevin the portfolio has consolidated around the seven-wine Reserve range covering Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rosé, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Merlot-Cabernet; the Legacy Series ended with the 2019 vintage and the Soler tier has been wound back so that Reserve now defines the brand's current commercial identity. The legendary Vidal Winery Restaurant in Hastings, the first of its kind in New Zealand when it opened in 1979, did not survive the relocation; the Hastings property was put up for sale in 2018 after 113 years of continuous operation.

• Owned by Sir George Fistonich's Villa Maria Estate from 1976 to 2021; passed to Indevin Group in December 2021 after Villa Maria entered receivership earlier that year
• Hastings winery and restaurant on St Aubyn Street East closed 30 June 2018 after 113 years; production consolidated at The Gravels (2375 State Highway 50) from 1 October 2018
• The Gravels site is shared with Villa Maria, Esk Valley, and Te Awa Collection; all Hawke's Bay and Gisborne fruit for the four brands is now processed there
• Current portfolio is the seven-wine Reserve range (SB, PG, Chardonnay, Rosé, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot-Cabernet); Legacy Series ended with the 2019 vintage and the Soler tier has been wound back