Stonecroft
Stonecroft is a small, family owned winery making organic Gimblett Gravels wines in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The owners are Dermot McCollum and Andria Monin, who took the reins at Stonecroft in 2010 and converted to organic production. The owners are very hands on, managing the vineyards, winery and cellar door themselves.
Stonecroft seeks to express, through their wines, the unique character of their vineyards and each vintage. They seek to make wines which are intense, elegant and fruit-driven, but capable of significant bottle development. The ability of Stonecroft wines to improve in bottle has been demonstrated over more than 30 years, with many of the early examples still drinking well. Their total production is very small; with around 2500 cases produced annually over a number of varieties. Both the vineyards and the winery are certified organic.
Stonecroft has two vineyards in the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District. The vineyards are around 3km apart. One of the vineyards is on Mere Road, west of Hastings and the other is at the base of Roy’s Hill. In total, approximately 7 ha are planted with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Viognier. Both vineyards are hot and dry, with peak summer temperatures consistently between 35˚C and 40˚C. Soils (known as the Omahu Gravels) are very stony and free draining.
Stonecroft takes great care to ensure the grapes harvested from their vineyards are of a high quality. Pruning, picking and most of the canopy management is carried out by hand. Being organic, a lot of attention is paid to canopy management with de-budding, leaf picking and green harvesting. Yields are kept very low to ensure top quality fruit and good ripeness levels; typically around 2kg per vine. 
NZ-Wide 
