New Zealand's Mt. Beautiful Launches New Winery & Tasting Room

CHEVIOT, New Zealand, Dec. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mt. Beautiful announces the completion of a new US$3.5 million winery located in the up-and-coming region of North Canterbury, NZ and the opening of a public tasting room conveniently located nearby in downtown Cheviot.

About The Winery
World-renowned scholar/entrepreneur and New Zealand native David J. Teece, together with his wife, Leigh, founded Mt. Beautiful with a mission: "We wanted to bring the best of New Zealand to the world," explains Teece. "And to do that, we wanted to pioneer an unrecognized area in New Zealand that was suitable for viticulture, but where no one else had planted before."

A two-year search led to just the right spot at North Canterbury's scenic northernmost fringe, only seven miles from the ocean yet protected from harsh sea winds by a benevolent namesake, Mt. Beautiful. Here, the Teeces established their vineyard from 2003-2005 and began making wine in tiny quantities in 2007.

The new winery—commissioned for the 2015 vintage—is the next step in the brand's evolution and was specifically designed to allow for the best possible handling of the property's estate-grown, certified-sustainable fruit. Consulting Winemaker Sam Weaver says, "For me it's a huge step forward, bringing the ultimate level of control of the whole winemaking process back to the vineyard."

The winery's current capacity is 400 tons with an expansion to 650 tons planned for vintage 2016. Mt. Beautiful has multiple fermenters in a variety of sizes, which allows all of the vineyard blocks to be fermented individually. This lets the winemakers understand what each site in the vineyard is capable of in terms of style and quality—an important process in a vineyard featuring 23 different soil types and several distinct microclimates.

Mt. Beautiful wines are not only different from most New Zealand wines by way of their North Canterbury location, but they are also different in style. The wine style captures the essence of New Zealand while embracing a more restrained approach, with harmony and balance. Mt. Beautiful produces Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Pinot Noir wines that are the expression of this wild and rugged region, with aromatic and flavor profiles that let the pure terroir come through.

About the Tasting Room
The tasting room was a natural expansion of the Mt. Beautiful experience, according to CEO Robert Watkins, since the winery itself is not open to the public. "We designed and built the tasting room to enhance, educate and capture our philosophies and activities in the vineyard and on our working farms," he says. The tasting room features high definition flat screens showing photos, videos and even a live feed during harvest so that guests can be close to the action but comfortably seated, enjoying a glass of Mt. Beautiful wine. "Wine lovers can now see and taste for themselves that our motto, 'Beautiful wine comes from a beautiful place,' is quite true," he adds.

All the tasting room's wooden furniture is designed and made by a local Cheviot craftsman, from wood cut and milled from the vineyard property. In a whimsical note, the tasting counter has a large notch in it to mimic what locals affectionately call "The Chasm," an old, deep riverbed that separates the two halves of the Mt. Beautiful vineyard.

The tasting room is located in the town of Cheviot at 11 Hall Street. Here, visitors can enjoy current and older vintages, verticals, and large format bottles paired with an enticing variety of small plates and platters featuring local products such as Mt. Grey Olives, Smoked Warihou or Cheviot Hills Salami. Tel: +64 3-319 8155. Open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (often later in summer months). Reservations are not required. 

Winery website: http://mtbeautiful.co.nz/

US MEDIA CONTACT:
Mia Malm
[email protected]
(707) 266-1320

NZ TASTING ROOM CONTACT:
Robert Day
[email protected]
+64 3-319 8155

SOURCE Mt. Beautiful

Related Links

http://mtbeautiful.co.nz