DUTY OF CARE
Our environment: From the day we took ownership of our boutique vineyard we have endeavoured to improve the land we work with. We are small so it means we can reduce our impact through the use of organic products and fewer applications – an ‘as and when cycle ‘rather than a ‘must do cycle’.
We gained our sustainable vineyard and winery certification in 2022. The property had not undergone this certification before so it took us two years to put in place processes and innovations to help use get there.
Power: As mentioned we have installed solar power as a renewable resource and hope to add more panels as funds allow.
Water: We have improved our water storage system by installing three water tanks and installing collection from roof tops for irrigation and water for horticultural processes. We have access to the local potable water aqua fir and we have installed a water reader to better understand and control our water use. The water race running through our property has a wonderful native ecosystem to enjoy and we are part of the committee established to ensure it runs effectively for generations to come.
Glass bottles – we have started using the lightweight bottles for our bottling.
Waste – recycling and reuse: We have a well sign-written recycling centre for all glass, plastic, tin and cardboard and paper. We also collect the wine bottle caps for a local kidney fundraiser group. We work with a local farmer who keeps pigs for all our compostable kitchen waste. Our waste to landfill has gone from weekly collection to fortnightly collection and is a small 240l fortnightly collection.
Carbon footprint: we have started to measure various inputs for both the winery and the vineyard to better understand what our carbon footprint is – it will take time but we will get there.
Our community: We feel fortunate to be living in such a wonderful community and raising our child here is a privilege. We hold an annual event to help raise funds for the local primary school as well as supporting many other fundraising efforts and businesses across the Wairarapa – the Wairarapa Cancer Society, Ballance Farm Environment awards and the Golden Shears to name just a few.
We run an NZCMA Park Over Property for campervans and rather than charge for this we ask for donations to be made to Starship Children’s hospital – a personal commitment due to our own personal connection.
We are part of a committee set up to advocate for the water race that services more than 50 properties in our Opaki region.
We are part of the Wairarapa Wines region network and do all we can to assist in the promotion of the region as a whole and our smaller terroir of Opaki which has half a dozen boutique vineyards.
You can view our Sustainable Winegrowing Certification here: SWNZ 2026
Over the first few year we were unable to employ many people but when we had horticultural seasonal needs we sort local students as it work in with their school holiday times and it meant they were learning new skills.
Since then we have grown and the need for a more helpers for the kitchen and cellar door duties has increased. We have had one staff member part time for 18 months and 4 more seasonal helpers coming in for weekends and events. We take the role of helping to upskill these young people in horticultural and food handling abilities (very transferrable service skills) and support them on their journey to full-time employment or study elsewhere. We have watched with pride the future they are creating for themselves and the small part we have played helping them with their skill development and work ethic development.
It has been wonderful to have younger more tech driven team members and they have helped us grown our technology side. We have implemented new systems for our POS and table pager systems.
It’s been fantastic for our daughter (an only child with special needs) to have young people relate to and learn from – we consider our team extended family and they are wonderful role models.
We regularly have team dinners and social functions and have been there are references for all of our team members who have gone on to seek employment elsewhere.
