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home page Established as a vineyard in 1988, Sandihurst Wines produced their first wine in 1992. Situated 26 km west of Christchurch, the vineyard benefits from the warm dry nor-westerly winds flowing across the Canterbury Plains. These provide an ideal environment for grapes andkeeps them free from many pests and diseases. Sandihurst is situated on land formed from the bed of the Waimakariri river in ages past and features many small sandy knolls. Another word for knoll is hurst and this is how the name Sandihurst was chosen.
Visitors to our winery shop in the past will have wondered when our mail order list would arrive. Unfortunately 1993 and 1994 were years of very low production due to the cooling effect of the Pinatubo volcanic dust in our atmosphere, and we did not produce enough wine to support a mail order. However the 1995 vintage returned to a level which now allows us to spread our wines over a wider marketing area. Our production this last vintage was approximately 100 tonnes of grapes and the quality leaves no doubt that Canterbury will be one of the foremost cool climate grape-growing areas in the world.
This vintage sees the first of our reserve wines emerging with the Gewurztraminer already available and the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris due for release.
This white wine has always been one of our best varieties and our 1995 will not disappoint. Finished with 4 grams per litre of residual sugar, this is drier than our earlier Pinot Gris but should suit the potential to honey up in the bottle.
In our opinion a superb example of this great classical variety. Harvested at 22 brix, this wine went through a long fermentation which has retained the great flavours of the grapes. The fruit weight on the palate belies the total dryness of this wine.
Made from mainly Marlborough grapes, it has a nicely balanced fruit and oak nose. The palate is tight at this stage but shows good acid balance with a long finish and will develop well in the bottle.
A light fruity wine made in medium style. A wine for all occasions.
A lighter Beaujolais style of Pinot Noir with plum cherry flavours and soft tannin background. Although made to sell in the lower price bracket, this is by no means a frivolous wine. Drink and enjoy now or cellar one to two years.
Made from a low yielding season, this wine has been in the barrels for over twelve months and has a nice fruit and oak balance. Although only bottled in July, it is already showing its very good potential. Awarded a Bronze Medal in the last Liquorland Top 100, this wine is a must for your cellar.
From a cool season, this Pinot Noir is now showing why Canterbury will be the home of great New Zealand Pinot. A complex berry fruit nose that explodes into a minty, spicy, mouth-filling wine that lingers. This wine has not reached its full potential yet.
A light red wine blended from Pinot Noir. With all the harsh tannins stripped away, the fruity background is now showing through, resulting in a very pleasant wine ideal for that summer evening barbecue or lunch.