Johner Estate favourite winery

Matt Stewart | 9th September 2008

Gladstone's Johner Estate vineyard has beaten out a field of 150 peers to be voted the favourite winery at New Zealand's biggest wine trade show.

The Wine New Zealand event was held last weekend at Auckland's ASB showgrounds and winemaker Karl Heinz Johner said the Buyer's Choice award was a coup not only for his team but also for the up-and-coming Gladstone winemaking region.

"It's absolutely excellent for the Gladstone wine region because often we're in the shadow of the more well-established Martinborough region," Mr Johner said.

"We attracted people to our stand and they taste our wine and there's an 'aha' effect," he said. "The award's worth more to a degree than a gold medal because people voted on best winery and could only put one name down and the voters were all professionals and trade customers."

Mr Johner splits his time between New Zealand and his native Germany where he has a winery in the Kaiserstuhl region.

In 2001, Mr Johner and his son Patrick planted the vineyard affectionately dubbed Land's End due to its position down a long gravel road past The Cliffs at the end of Dakins Road.

The estate has a stable of wine varieties with 8ha of Pinot Noir, 3ha of Sauvignon Blanc and a hectare of trial varieties ranging from Pinot Gris to Syrah.

Mr Johner said the win was a real team effort and said his approach to winemaking is all about consistency of quality an attribute that seemed to have gelled with Wine New Zealand voters.

"The product has to be good and the whole thing just fitted together," Mr Johner said.