Our Philosophy
We believe in winemaking with a natural touch, a guiding hand in the cellar, to be as hands off as possible. The best wines come from the best fruit, so the vineyard is vital. In the winery, balance is the key, the interplay between sweetness, acidity, oak and tannin, fruit and palate weight. We want our wines to be delicate, elegant, food friendly and, above all, enjoyable.
Our Winemaker
Georges Road Wines possesses a rare quality among today’s wineries of NZ — from grape to glass, our winemaker & winery owner Kirk Bray is intimately involved in all aspects of production, completely connected to the final wine in the bottle.
Kirk is a graduate (with Distinction) from Lincoln Universities Post Graduate Diploma course for Viticulture & Oenology. After soaking up vintage cellar experiences at wineries in Canterbury, Waipara, France, California and Germany, Kirk moved to Germany full time where he spent a further two years winemaking in the Pfalz. Returning to NZ in 2003, and inspired by the family-owned and quality-focused wineries of Europe, Kirk and his wife Alison bought 8 hectares of prime vineyard land in Waipara.
The Georges Road vineyard was planted in 2004 with Syrah, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, and a winery was added in 2015.
Our Red Wines
hand harvesting…ambient pre ferment soak…small open top fermentation…hand plunging…extended post ferment macereation…ferments are separated by clone and by freerun/press fraction…natural malolactic fermentation…no racking prior to blending…no fining…oak to be restained and not dominant…an extended period of bottle maturation before release…
Our White Wines
all fruit is hand harvested…we believe in whole bunch pressing of the grapes…brief settling times to encourage higher levels of juice solids in the ferments…no settled juice lees added back…complete exposure of the juice to oxygen prior to ferment…the use of natural yeasts for primary fermentation…cool but not cold ferment temperatures…plenty of time on gross lees…no cold stabilisation…no fining…an extended period bottle maturation before release…
