2009 Waipara West Pinot Noir

"Waipara West is a splendid, isolated winery way off the beaten track in New Zealand's South island. It makes famously haughty whites, but this Pinot is altogether more companionable, offering a lovely mix of weight and freshness and the scent of herbs. There's a little tasty oak, but not enough to disturb the sweet beauty of ripe raspberries and red cherries, and the herb scent has not bitterness, just an ethereal fragrance drifting through the wine."

2009 Waipara West Late Harvest Chardonnay

"Sweet wines made our of Chardonnay are pretty rare, but it doesn't surprise me to see Waipara West giving it a go – they're already one of New Zealand's more original wine producers. It's unusual, I'll admit, but it works. It's rich, full of quince jelly and goldengage fruit, sweet stewed golden plum skins and loft apples gone shrivelled and dry, flecked with a drop of honest toiler's sweat."




Waipara, a recognised viticultural region, is situated some forty - five miles north of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. Vines were first planted in the district in 1981 although commercial winemaking really only started in 1990. Waipara has many natural advantages for grape production - long dry summers, sheltered from cold easterly winds by a range of coastal hills but exposed to the hot nor-west winds which help to control disease, and a remarkable range of soils, including shingle, river stones and pockets of clay loams over limestone.

The planted area has expanded greatly in recent years with considerable corporate investment.

Wines from Waipara have already achieved some notable export success, especially in the UK through Waterloo Wine Co.