Our Story

Scrolling back in time, I remember Tim saying he wanted a North facing clay slope. We found the perfect spot in the hills half way between Nelson and Motueka. Sadly we had to pass an opportunity to sail around the world with a couple of friends. I think we made the right choice. 

Like many small vineyards we run on a great deal of hard work, good luck, and a lot of fun. We nod in the direction of business reality to keep the whole enterprise afloat, but we believe great wines come from the heart as well as the head.

Great wines have a basis of fruit concentration, length and sense of place. In working this close to nature there will sometimes be heartache and occasionally celebration; each year there is new promise, but always there is the excitement of discovery. 

Neudorf Vineyards are centred on the home block but we have smaller blocks adjoining the original vineyard and we bring in fruit from two selected vineyards where we oversee the production but do not own the land.

We have two small wineries – one for red wines and one for white. In the middle is the laboratory which also serves as a library, blending room, war room (over vintage when they are planning their attack on picking) and gathering place.

We blithely talk about malo, pH and total acidity. All winemakers rave on about minerality, phenolics and filtration. Here’s a short and simple explanation of words we use on our tasting notes.

Nelson is warm, liberal, creative and adventurous. Here a small collection of our favourite things to do, places to eat and galleries to explore. If you are planning a trip check out www.nelsonnz.com - See you here.