Sherwood Estate

Making wine to be enjoyed. It’s what we’re good at and what we’ve been doing for the last 30 years.

Region: Marlborough and Waipara Valley, New Zealand

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About Sherwood Estate

History

Sherwood Estate began in a bare paddock with nothing more than youthful optimism.

In 1987, with a long held interest in wine and degrees in both business and viticulture, Dayne Sherwood decided he would put his knowledge to good use and started making his own wine.

"My wife Jill and I planted eight acres of vines in West Melton, west of Christchurch. It was a time of turmoil in the industry with the government paying people to pull vines out. Some people thought we were mad", says Dayne Sherwood but he ignored the sceptics and come harvest time he began crafting wines and bottling them himself.

Sherwood Estate wines attracted acclaim from early on, winning several gold, silver and bronze medals in both local and international competitions. In those days the company was producing around 1,000 cases of wine each year and a desire for expansion saw Dayne look offshore.

In 1997 Dayne attended VINEXPO, an international wine and spirits expo in France. It was a turning point for the company.

"At that time, the concept of a New Zealand wine was almost quaint to the international industry. This country had virtually no reputation as a wine producer, so our exhibit at VINEXPO drew people in. I was able to make some incredible contacts who I still do business with today," says Dayne. Soon after VINEXPO, Dayne started exporting to the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland.

Sherwood Estate's volumes started to grow and in 2001 they moved to the Waipara Valley.

The rest, as they say, is history

Today

After twenty five years, Sherwood Estate is a key player in New Zealand’s wine industry and one of the country’s top 20 wine exporters.

Sherwood Estate is still family owned. Dayne and Jill Sherwood both retain hands-on roles - Dayne as its Managing Director and Jill as Finance and Commercial Director.

“We are really proud of the fact Sherwood Estate is still a family owned company. It means we can make decisions easily and the profits from our business stay in New Zealand,” says Jill.

“We now own more than 260 acres of vineyards in Waipara and Marlborough and a modern, fully equipped winery in the Waipara Valley. This means, unlike most other wineries, we carry out the entire winemaking process ourselves. Therefore, we have complete control over our product, from planting the vines to harvesting the grapes through to crushing, fermentation, crafting the wine and bottling it”, explains Dayne. “It means we are skilled in the entire winemaking process.”

Sherwood Estate produces Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Syrah and Pinot Noir each year.

Vineyards

Sherwood Estate owns over 260 acres of vineyards in Marlborough and Waipara, all overseen by Ben Johns in accordance with New Zealand Wine Growers Sustainable Vineyard Programme.

There are a total of seven separate vineyard sites, which gives Sherwood Estate great scope for producing distinctive, regional style wines.

“It is really challenging, but ultimately rewarding, dealing with fruit from six different vineyard sites. Each vineyard has its own unique soils, climate and idiosyncrasies.”

Petter Evans

Senior Winemaker and Viticulture Manager

Winery

All Sherwood Estate’s production and processing is done at the winery in Waipara, from fruit receival, crushing, pressing, fermentation, racking, filtering, bottling and dispatch.

The winery is fully accredited under Sustainable Winegrowers guidelines.

The wine making team of Petter Evans and Ian Whiteaker are dedicated to maximising the potential of every grape grown on the vineyards and ensuring that every bottle of wine that rolls off the bottling line meets the exacting standards that are expected.

Environment

It’s only natural that we respect the soil on which we have founded our vineyards. Sherwood Estate is dedicated to protecting the environmental integrity of our land and therefore our wine. We’re proud to be one of the inaugural members of the New Zealand Sustainable Winegrowing Program, under which our vineyards, our winery facility and all our contract growers are fully accredited.

Sherwood Estate is committed to showing continual improvement in environmental management practice and performance. We utilise our grape and vine waste for composting and produce approximately 800 tonnes of nutrient-rich compost per year.

Our company abides by a strict environmental policy with goals to:

Not only comply with all current environmental legislations, but to exceed them.
Prevent pollution, reduce waste and commit to recovery and recycling.
Improve our already efficient use of energy and water resources.
Investigate and implement biological controls or pest and disease management if appropriate.
Incorporate environmental performance standards when assessing potential suppliers as well as encouraging suppliers to meet our environmental standards.