Yealands Estate

Peter Yealands had already lived several lives, in mussel farming, deer farming and forestry, before he planted his first vineyard at Grove Town in 1998 at the age of 50. A decade later, on 8 August 2008, he opened a purpose-built winery on a wind-scoured stretch of the southeastern Awatere Valley that conventional Marlborough growers had written off as too dry, too exposed and too steep for grapes. The site sits on coastal cliffs above Cook Strait near Seddon, with the North Island visible across the water on clear days. Yealands and his team reshaped the land with hundreds of kilometres of terraces, GPS-guided rip lines and contour plantings, transforming exposed clay-loess slopes into the largest single vineyard in New Zealand. From the start the project was framed as a proof-of-concept that ambitious scale and rigorous environmental stewardship could coexist in modern viticulture.

• Peter Yealands planted his first Marlborough vineyard at Grove Town in 1998, age 50
• Estate winery opened 8 August 2008 on the Seaview Peninsula above Cook Strait
• Site was previously considered too windy, dry and steep for commercial viticulture
• Hundreds of kilometres of terracing and GPS contour design made the slopes plantable

Yealands was conceived as a closed-loop, low-carbon winery from the blueprint stage rather than retrofitted later. The northern roof of the cellar houses one of New Zealand's largest winery solar arrays, generating more than 500,000 kilowatt-hours a year, enough to power around 70 average homes. Two wind turbines and a biomass boiler that burns vine prunings together cover roughly a quarter of the operation's energy needs, with the balance supplied by renewable grid electricity. The winery has held Toitū carboNZero certification since its first vintage, the first winery in the world to do so from inception, and from the 2023 vintage transitioned its product-level claims to Toitū carbonreduce. Kunekune pigs, chickens and a flock of miniature Babydoll sheep graze the estate, replacing tractors and chemical herbicides for inter-row work, while wetlands such as the Twin Lakes restoration support native birdlife and water quality. In 2022 Yealands became the first New Zealand winery to sign a sustainability-linked loan, formally tying its borrowing costs to verified environmental targets.

• More than 500,000 kWh per year from on-site solar; two wind turbines plus a vine-prunings biomass boiler
• Roughly 25 percent of energy generated on site; certified carboNZero since day one in 2008
• Babydoll sheep, kunekune pigs and chickens handle weed and pest control between the vines
• First New Zealand winery to sign a sustainability-linked loan (2022) with environmental KPIs

Compared with the broader Wairau Valley to the north, the Awatere is cooler, windier and significantly drier, with a long ripening curve that locks in piercing aromatics and naturally high acidity. Seaview's coastal exposure intensifies all of this: a cool diurnal swing pulled off Cook Strait, persistent afternoon winds that thicken skins and reduce disease pressure, and free-draining soils of windblown loess over greywacke gravels with veins of clay, limestone and quartz. The estate farms more than a dozen varieties across its 133 blocks, with Sauvignon Blanc the unambiguous star, joined by Pinot Gris, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Albariño, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The combination of altitude, aspect and soil variation across the contoured terraces lets the winemaking team source single-block parcels with distinct sensory signatures, the foundation of the Single Vineyard and Single Block tiers.

• Awatere Valley is cooler, drier and windier than the Wairau, with longer hang times and bright acidity
• Coastal cliffs above Cook Strait drive a strong diurnal range and constant maritime winds
• Soils blend windblown loess, greywacke gravels, clay, limestone and quartz over varied aspects
• More than a dozen varieties farmed across 133 blocks, with Sauvignon Blanc as the flagship

The Yealands range is built as a tiered pyramid sourced almost entirely from the Seaview vineyard. The Peter Yealands and Yealands Estate Land Made ranges offer the entry point, classic Awatere Sauvignon Blanc with passionfruit, lime zest and cut-herb lift, joined by Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Noir Rosé and a sparkling cuvée. The Estate Reserve tier adds texture and oak-handled complexity, while the Single Vineyard line draws on specific Seaview blocks for greater concentration. At the top, the Single Block series, anchored by S1 Sauvignon Blanc from the seaward S1 parcel, expresses individual sites in detail. The Single Block S1 Sauvignon Blanc was named Best Sauvignon Blanc in the World at the 2012 International Wine Challenge, and the estate has since accumulated hundreds of medals across Sauvignon Blanc, aromatic whites and Pinot Noir. Sister labels Babydoll and The Crossings extend distribution into volume-driven export channels while the estate label holds the premium positioning.

• Tiered range: Peter Yealands and Land Made entry, Estate Reserve, Single Vineyard, Single Block
• Flagship Single Block S1 Sauvignon Blanc named Best Sauvignon Blanc in the World, 2012 IWC
• Beyond Sauvignon Blanc, the estate is recognised for Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Grüner Veltliner
• Sister labels Babydoll and The Crossings extend the group's reach in export markets

By the mid-2010s the scale of the project had outgrown its founder's balance sheet. In 2015 community-owned utility Marlborough Lines bought an 80 percent stake in the wider Yealands Wine Group for NZ$89 million and took full ownership in 2018, keeping the estate in regional hands. Peter Yealands exited the business and, in a separate matter, he and his former company were later fined more than NZ$400,000 in a high-profile environmental case unrelated to the post-sale operation. To free capital, 187 hectares of Seaview vineyard land were sold to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund in 2020 and leased back. Chief Winemaker Natalie Christensen, an oenology-trained musician with international experience across France, Spain, the United States and New Zealand, has led the cellar through this transition; she was named International Wine Challenge White Winemaker of the Year in 2023. After a difficult 2025 trading year, Marlborough Lines restructured the business into two separately managed entities, both reporting directly to the parent, sharpening the focus on the estate's premium tier while continuing its sustainability mandate.

• Marlborough Lines bought 80 percent in 2015 (NZ$89m), full ownership in 2018
• 187 hectares of Seaview land sold to the NZ Superannuation Fund in 2020 and leased back
• Chief Winemaker Natalie Christensen: IWC White Winemaker of the Year 2023
• Restructured into two separately managed entities under Marlborough Lines following 2025 trading results