About
We’re a family business. Black Estate is owned and run by us, Nicholas Brown and Pen Naish, together with Pen’s family. We own three small hillside vineyards in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury, and lease a fourth. Nicholas looks after the vineyards and wines, Pen runs sales and marketing, the restaurant and cellar door.
We live at Netherwood vineyard, above the winery with our two children. Pen’s father, Rod, a fifth-generation horticulturist from North Otago, and her mother, Stacey, have been part of Black Estate from day one, supporting the project and everything that’s grown from it.
The story starts with Russell and Kumiko Black, who planted the original eight hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at what's now called the Home Vineyard back in 1993. We bought the property in 2007 and kept the name. From there we started buying fruit from the Hull family's Damsteep Vineyard and from Netherwood (originally planted by Danny Schuster). We ended up buying both properties in 2012 and 2015.
In 2023 we began leasing Skypunch, a hillside vineyard beside Home block, owned by our friends Julianne Leibeck and Conor Paton.
Four vineyards now, each with its own history and character, all farmed organically and biodynamically and certified with BioGro and Demeter. We keep to making single expressions from each vineyard since we genuinely find them to be special sites with unique soils and vine age.
We consider it a real privilege to farm this land in Omihi, at the top of Waipara Valley. Our aim is simple even if the work rarely is: encourage natural balance and life at each site, watch out for the weather in our edgey cool climate, and let an honest expression of each place find its way into the glass.
To do this, we make the wines traditionally and with a lot of care – with no additions except for minimal sulphur at bottling and ensuring the wines are not fined nor filtered.
None of it happens without the amazing people around us. We're genuinely grateful for the friendships and the knowledge that have grown alongside us and the vines.
Here's to our current team:
Vineyard – Lucy and Dan, with cameos from Owen, Alex and Leo.
Winery – Nao.
Restaurant – Justine and Clio manage the restaurant and events; Josh and JR lead the kitchen; Jemma, Eilidh, Polly, Tom, Sylvia and Arthur make up the wider team.
We're also extremley grateful for our partners in New Zealand and around the world who help us sell the wines. You can find them and our wines here.
In Conversation
Chessie Henry caught up with Pen Naish and Nicholas Brown to talk wine, farming, family and what it means to really know a place.
Suppliers
Our goal is to always celebrate our whenua and look after our communities by supporting and cooking with food made and grown from our back yard.
Little Owl BD Farm
Based in Gore Bay, an hour north of Black Estate. Micheal and Liz grow vegetables, using the organic methods of the biodynamic movement. They also provide fortnightly vegetable boxes from the farm to locals. Get in touch if you interested to get your own.
Streamside Organics
Based in Leeston, Streamside is a 50 acre certified organic farm growing produce for local restaurants, markets, supermarkets and wholesalers.
Kings Truffles
The Lee family grow organic truffle in Waipara Gorge, high in limestone rocks above our local river. Their gorgeous dogs find the truffle each June and July and supply us for the whole season.
Little Goat Farm Dairy
At Te Hua Farm, Andrea Gauland makes cheese from her own goats' milk, developing her craft through trial, error, voracious reading and a love of all things cheese-y.
Marlborough fishers who offer a diverse ange of seafood from diving and long line fishing. They aim to guarantee the supply of top-quality fish all while ensuring fair compensation for our dedicated fishermen and divers and sustainable fisheries for our oceans.
Good local dutch cheese from Sefton.
Milmore Downs
Inspirational mentors of ours, Ian and Matt Henderson and their family own and manage a third-generation family farm, producing freshly milled flour, grains and other cereals. The farm is certified organic and biodynamic.
