Matahiwi Estate

An award-winning family-owned winery in the heart of the Wairarapa. The Matahiwi vineyard is situated on an alluvial boulder ridge in the Masterton district of Wairarapa.

With warm free draining soils and the cool dry local climate this is an ideal place to grow Pinot Noir.

Grapes are predominantly grown in the Wairarapa with small volumes of Chardonnay and Syrah sourced from selected vineyard sites in Hawke’s Bay. The Wairarapa vineyards lie on the north-west outskirts of Masterton, with Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc the two main varieties plus a small amount of Pinot Gris and Chardonnay.

Inter-row plantings promote healthy soils and biodiversity in the vineyard. The flowering buckwheat and phacelia attract natural predators for some vineyard pests, while clovers, oats, chicory and vetch provide nitrogen and other nutrients to vines when they are mown or cultivated into the ground. To a large extent homegrown mulches and products made from seaweed and humic acids replace hard fertilisers. Sheep wander among the vines in winter and leaf pluck in summer.