Boutique Vineyard & Luxury Accommodation Premises For Sale Have Multiple Income Streams For Property Investors

A boutique vineyard and accommodation business, at the first winery production site established in the premium North Canterbury region of Waipara, have been placed on the market for sale.

Waipara River Estate is a 13.9-hectare property comprising some 3.2-hectares planted in vines producing high quality award-winning pinot noir, Riesling, gewurztraminer, and chardonnay wines, along with a commercially operated boutique B & B.

The property’s vines were first planted in 1981, and are how harvested and bottled under contract at the nearby Crater Rim winery. In 2016, the vineyard’s Riesling dessert wine was crowned Champion Wine at the Canterbury Wine Awards; silver at the 2015 Bragato Awards, and silver in the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London.

The property located 12-kilometres north of Amberley township also operates as a commercial accommodation provider under Waipara River Estate - running five self-contained suites in a configuration of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units – with nightly rates for hotel-grade rooms ranging between $230 - $270.

The Waipara River Estate Boutique B & B owner’s accommodation is separate from the guest rooms which have their own kitchenettes.

Outside, the contemporary and immaculately presented dual-level home comprises a covered veranda walkway connecting to mature shrubbery, gardens, and lawns – wrapping around an al-fresco dining and entertainment courtyard with pizza oven, adjacent to an in-ground heated swimming pool complete with changing rooms. An extensive chattels list, including approximately $100,000 of bottled wine, available on application.

Now the freehold land, residence and buildings, and going concern of viticulture and accommodation both trading as Waipara River Estate at 169 MacKenzies Road in Waipara are being marketed for sale for enquiries over $2.5million (plus GST if any) through Bayleys Canterbury. Salespeople Wendy Miles and Adam Whitelock said the property offered rural lifestyle living with the option of either passive or active income opportunities.

“With dual revenue streams from two very different economic sectors, this beautiful home incorporating accommodation suites, and its well-established surrounding productive land come together to create a diversified lifestyle-based proposition,” Miles said.

“As a residential dwelling, the homestead enjoys the privacy and ambience of being situated in the middle of working vineyard. From a marketing perspective, the appeal of Waipara River Estate is that guests can stay amidst the romance of the vines.

“Over the past two-years Waipara River Estate’s accommodation business has survived on domestic tourism numbers alone. Now with New Zealand’s international borders opening up, the venue is well positioned to benefit from the return of international free independent travellers (FIT’s) as this sector of the tourism market re-emerges.

“Of course, there is also the option of reverting the classically styled home back to a domestic residential dwelling, and this could be achieved with minimal effort.”

Irrigation for the vineyard comes from Waipara River Estate’s shareholding in the Weka Plains Irrigation Scheme – with a gravity-fed reticulation line running from the scheme’s holding pond - providing rights for up to 6.15million litres of water annually. Meanwhile, domestic water for the homestead is sourced from a bore connected to a 25,000-litre storage tank. A water softener and brine tank operates completely automatically to soften all water entering the home. Dual pleated washable five micron sediment filters follow to deliver clean, clear soft water throughout.

Sheltered by the Teviot Hills to the west, Canterbury’s Waipara region has a rainfall of approximately 620-millimetres per annum. The region sustains some 26 wineries, and 80 vineyards - such as Waipara River Estate. The fully irrigated plantings within Waipara River Estate comprise 1.48-hectares of chardonnay, 0.88-hectares of pinot noir, 0.53-hectares of gewurztraminer, and 0.28-hectares of Riesling.

Vines have been removed or replanted in various phases over the past 25-years to ensure maximum cropping and resilience to disease. Annual yield averages from the Waipara River Estate vines over the 2008 – 2017 period – when a considerable area of vines was converted to chardonnay plantings – were 10-tonnes a year. Waipara River Estate is a member of the viticulture representative body New Zealand WineGrowers Inc.

Whitelock said commercial vineyard-related building infrastructure on the property included a trio of modern lockable roller door sheds used for storing vine maintenance and harvesting equipment, separate horse stables and tack room, a four-bay open fronted barn and a double insulated Customs licensed wine store.

“Over the past five years, Waipara River Estate’s current owners have invested heavily in upgrading the premises - primarily renovating what was the property’s original farmhouse into what is now a four-star accommodation business. Concurrently on the productive land, the investment programme has seen improvements to the equipment sheds, irrigation system, vine plantings fencing and bio-diversity-enhancing tree-planting around the irrigation pond and pastures,” he said.

“A substantial part of the property is currently in flat grassed pasture in keeping with its rural ambience, and there is certainly the ample potential for a new owner to expand vine plantings across those fields to increase output of what is a successful label.”

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