News Release - for immediate release
26 September 2014
Blackenbrook Vineyard Celebrates a Decade of Achievement
Acclaimed family-run winery Blackenbrook Vineyard is celebrating the 10 year anniversary since their first vintage and
thanking the local community.
Renowned Wine Commentator Michael Cooper says “Blackenbrook is one of the highest-achieving wineries on the Nelson
scene, with a reputation for aromatic white wines - Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc - that are
rich and full of personality. Daniel and Ursula are currently celebrating their ten-year anniversary. It’s a major
milestone, and as their vineyard matures – to say nothing of the benefits of winemaker age – Blackenbrook’s wines will
surely get better and better.”
Winemaker Daniel Schwarzenbach and his wife Ursula built one of the first gravity-fed wineries in the Nelson region and
Daniel’s focus on ‘gentle processes’ and depth of flavour has earned them over 15 top awards and 12 Five Star ratings
for their wine over the past decade. (See full list of awards under Note 1)
“We are very grateful to those businesses and customers who took the chance to try a new wine all those years ago. This
anniversary is a time to look at where we’ve come from and to celebrate with the local community, who are such a big
part of our journey” says Ursula Schwarzenbach.
To mark the anniversary, Blackenbrook held a celebration at one of their first trade customer’s award-winning café, the
Jester House. The other initial trade customers were Casa del Vino and Fresh Choice in Nelson alongside The Mooring (now
Elevation Café) and Super Liquor in Motueka.
Now they sell to 85 trade customers nationwide and export to Japan, Germany and Switzerland.
Since 2004, when they produced 22452 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, winemaker Daniel
Schwarzenbach and his wife Ursula have more than doubled production to around 50,000 bottles annually, now also
including Gewürztraminer, Muscat and Montepulciano.
“We have grown in many ways over the past decade both in terms of wine production but also in our knowledge of how to
get the best flavours from our terroir,” says Daniel.
“From when we started, we have seen a lot more players enter the Nelson wine scene, some quite small without their own
winery facilities. The larger wineries now all employ a good number of staff, including vineyard managers and
winemakers. When we arrived in 1998 there was only one employed winemaker in Nelson, and that was Daniel at Seifried
Estate. Weren’t we lucky to score that job – otherwise we could not have settled here!“ says Ursula.
The ten year celebrations also mark a change of direction in Blackenbrook’s look with a new logo, website and video.
The new logo (at the top of this page) combines the couples’ Swiss heritage with their deep connection to New Zealand
through a stylised bunch of grapes made up of red koru – the red reflecting the couple’s Swiss heritage and the koru,
their bond to New Zealand.
The history of their Tasman vineyard goes back to 2000 when they grafted their own vines to plant the first 4 hectares
of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. “We used to burn the midnight oil as we both still held onto
our day jobs,” laughs Ursula.
In 2004 their first wine was produced and the Blackenbrook label launched – the name being an English translation of
their surname. Over the years they’ve added Riesling, Gewürztraminer and the Italian red variety Montepulciano. For
their third vintage, a modern gravity-fed winery was opened on site and alongside this, the couple also started a family
- Thomas, 10 and Isabelle, 6, who have grown up along with the vines.
While the couple are no longer out tending vines with head-torches at night, they’re still extremely hands-on and
involved in every aspect of the business – Daniel as vineyard manager and winemaker and Ursula taking charge of
marketing and sales.
Vintage 2014 was their largest ever and Daniel is excited about the vibrant new wines: “The 2014 wines have an amazing
flavour concentration and balance, reflecting the fantastic conditions we had in the vineyard.”
The passion for winemaking is even stronger now than when they started.
Daniel Schwarzenbach: “We’ve just processed the ninth harvest in our winery and I still love working in there. It’s
functional, it’s gentle, it’s clean and it just feels right. “
ENDS
Note 1: Since 2004: 6 Trophies (Best of class of the entire wine competition), 9 Gold Medals, 12 x 5 Star ratings, mainly
Michael Cooper and Bob Campbell MW; 15 x 4 ½ Star ratings, mainly Michael Cooper and Bob Campbell MW; and numerous
Silver Medals and 4 Star ratings. Most prestigious awards went to Blackenbrook Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2007 which
received 3 Gold and 3 Trophies (Bragato Wine Awards, New Zealand International Wine Show, South African Sauvignon Blanc
Competition) – an amazing achievement for a Nelson Sauvignon Blanc, stepping out of Marlborough’s shadow.
Blackenbrook ‘s most recent awards were three gold medals and a Trophy in the last month:
• Gold & Trophy from the Bragato Wine Awards 2014 for Pinot Gris 2013
• Gold from Bragato Wine Awards 2014 for Pinot Gris 2014
• Gold from New Zealand International Wine Show 2014 for Pinot Gris 2014
Note 2: David Letsche Photography produced the new video which will be used to share the Blackenbrook story with customers in
New Zealand and overseas.