Our Story

Overview

Stonyridge Vineyard is a world-renowned Cabernet-blend winegrower, located on the beautiful island of Waiheke, near Auckland, New Zealand.

We are dedicated to producing the finest Cabernet blends in the world (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot), combining traditional winemaking with meticulous organic viticulture.

"Stonyridge follows French traditions unapologetically...for the Stonyridge '96 to make the top three with Latour when French judges decided on the best wines of the world"

- Wine & Dine (June/July 1999)

Location and Soil

Waiheke Island, in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, is famous for producing great red wines because of its low summer rainfall and consistently high temperatures. We are located at the same relative latitude as the southern tip of Sicily.

Stonyridge is located in a gently north-facing valley, 1 km from both Onetangi Beach to the north and Putiki Bay to the south.

It is sheltered from the cold southwesterly winds by Stonyridge, a long ridge running from one coast to the other.

A nearby rock quarry gives an indication of the soil type. The soil is a poor low-fertility Waitemata clay saturated with nodules of magnesium, manganese, and iron oxides. Magnesium is the central molecule of chlorophyll, essential for photosynthesis, much loved by grape vines and so often deficient in NZ soils.

The only fertilizers we add are natural-ground limestone and a homemade seaweed emulsion.

Methods

Our viticulture is meticulous, with at least 5 full-time staff working in our 6-hectare vineyard throughout the year.

We select the finest clones and graft them onto the best low-vigour rootstocks we can find. Apart from the five Bordeaux grapes, we are doing trials with many other varieties.

Insecticides have never been used at Stonyridge and herbicides have not been used since 1988 when we purchased our first German tractor-mounted undervine weeder. Our vine-disease-protection program is limited to non-systemic fungicides (copper and sulfur). We are organic growers, but because of an allergy to bureaucracy we refuse to be certified by an agency.

"I have seen many New World attempts to emulate the Bordeaux method of growing grapes, none more convincing than that of Stephen White at Stonyridge...A vertical tasting did no more than confirm my view that Stephen White is making New Zealand's finest Cabernet-based red wines."

- James Halliday, Wine Atlas of Australia and New Zealand

History

Stonyridge Vineyard is the ongoing dream of Dr. Stephen White PhD, MBA, OBE.

After graduating from Kings College, Stephen obtained a Diploma of Horticulture at Lincoln College, Canterbury University. A big influence in his education was the lecturer in Viticulture and Oenology, Dr. David Jackson.

In 1981 Stephen White returned to New Zealand after doing a Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, skippering yachts in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and working in wineries in California and Italy. It was during this 3-year adventure that Stephen came to love the culture and lifestyle of the Mediterranean and the great red wines of France, Tuscany, and California.

His mission now was to locate a site where Bordeaux grape varieties could be ripened to perfection in NZ.

After extensive climatic research he discovered that the ideal site was right under his nose on Waiheke Island. As a fifth-generation Aucklander with an uncle and aunt farming on the island and as a great lover of islands around the world, Waiheke was his destiny.

Unfortunately no one else shared his enthusiasm; the Rural Bank and Ministry of Agriculture scorned the project. Waiheke had been known more for its hippies and marijuana production than anything else. Finally, world-renowned Dr. Richard Smart was appointed as head government viticulturist, and after he gave his support to winegrowing on Waiheke, the bank followed suit.

The first Bordeaux vines and olive trees were planted in 1982, with the help of close friends and family. A firm friendship and alliance was formed with Kim & Jeanette Goldwater, who were also pioneering a vineyard and winery. It was through the Goldwaters that Stephen met Dr. John McLeod, who joined him as winemaking partner from 1984 to 1988.

In 1984 Stephen returned to Bordeaux for a final training period and completed the vintage at Chateau d'Angludet, Cantenac-Margaux under the tutelage of Peter Sichel.

Stephen and John produced the first vintage at Stonyridge Vineyard in 1985. Two years later, they made the great 1987 Larose that rocketed Stonyridge to national fame - a wine hailed as the greatest red wine ever made in New Zealand.

Innovation

Stonyridge has been credited with many firsts:

• First to recognise the Waiheke climate as ideal for Bordeaux-style reds, and to come to Waiheke with the sole intention of making great red wines
• First NZ winegrower to recognise the value of northfacing land, and to plant roses at the end of each row and know why
• First NZ winemaker to make a wine from the Bordeaux Four (Cab.Sauv., Merlot, Cab.Franc, Malbec) and Bordeaux Five (adding Petit Verdot)
• First NZ winegrower to make a Rhone Ranger wine (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre)
• First NZ winemaker to exclusively use barriques, and one of the first to have an underground barrel cellar
• First to have a second label to protect the quality of the first
• First NZ winemaker to sell "en primeur"
• First to plant a commercial olive grove and a cork forest