Pioneering winery on the market

Pioneering Kiwi vineyard and winery Matua Valley has been placed on the market for sale.

The legendary West Auckland winery is widely credited for taking the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc experience to the world beginning in the early 1970s.

The vineyard was founded by brothers Bill and Ross Spence who planted New Zealand’s first 

Sauvignon Blanc vines. The brothers sold in 2001 and it has been owned by Treasury Wine Estates since 2011.

Treasury Wine Estates is now selling the 31.68 hectare West Auckland vineyards, winery production, and distribution plant. The international tender process closes on June 16 2016. All rights and goodwill in the Matua brand are being retained by Treasury Wine Estates and are not included in the offering.

The Waikoukou Valley operation includes 5.8399 hectares of which three hectares is planted to Sauvignon Blanc and just under a hectare planted to Chardonnay. Last season the plantings yielded a combined crop of 12.785 tonnes of grapes.

Immediately adjacent to the vines is a 7.49 hectare winery, bottling hall and warehousing complex with a production capacity of 2,000 tonnes and storage capacity in tanks and barrels of 3.6 million litres. 

Included in the offering is the accompanying former fine dining restaurant and function room, The Hunting Lodge, which was built in 1868 as the property’s original farm homestead. The Hunting Lodge was converted into a visitor centre and cellar door retail outlet in 2011. The venue has both an on and off license for hosting functions and tastings, and operates with a Grade A food handling certification.

Treasury Wine Estates intends moving production of its wines to the company’s recently expanded Matua Marlborough operation, where most of the brand’s grapes are harvested and processed.