Dry River vineyard was established in 1979 by Dr Neil and Dawn McCallum. In 2003 the vineyard and winery were sold to Julian Robertson and Reg Oliver with Neil staying at the helm as Chief Winemaker until his retirement in 2011. The name Dry River was that of one of the earliest South Wairarapa sheep stations.
Although their vines are planted several kilometres away on the northern boundary of the Martinborough township, Dry River aptly describes the very arid, gravely and free-draining site. The first wines, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot gris were bottled in 1984 and Dry River has since developed a reputation as one of New Zealand’s most iconic pioneering wineries. The wines are largely sold by mail order and are not widely available through the retail trade. We are lucky enough to be able to present some for sale to you.
The vineyards and winery are cared for by a small and dedicated team overseen by Ant Mackenzie, General Manager. In the winery, Wilco Lam is the winemaker with Coralie Allexant-Manière assists him. Heather Gibbs looks after administration and the vineyards are tended by Nick James, Vineyard Manager, Rob Smith and Michelle Mills.
$72.00
This is a wine we are very proud of. Our Craighall Chardonnay is nearing the intensity and structure we so...
$58.00
The pale golden colour reflects that of freshness and rigor. Tropical peach and kiwifruit characters reflect the warmer vintage in...
$58.00
The warmer vintages like the 2018 benefit our Alsace varieties in the vineyard for the style we pursue, in this...
$84.00
To refresh the memory, 2016 was an outstanding vintage, no less for Syrah. After a moderately warm and very dry summer,...
$65.00
Our Pinot gris vines are amongst the oldest planted at Dry River – the majority was planted in 1979 making...
$104.00
The 2017 growing conditions were nearly identical to the 2014 vintage, in numbers. The flowering conditions were sub-optimal, which caused...
$72.00
Four subsequent years of dry conditions had severely impacted the Tempranillo. With hard pruning necessary during winter, the yields were...
