Land

Our four small vineyard sites lie on the north-facing hillsides of Omihi, in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. Their soils are various combinations of limestone, clay and sandstone.

The Naish family own Home, Damsteep and Netherwood vineyards and lease Skypunch.

We farm these small properties organically and biodynamically, working with the natural systems already present at each site. Our aim is to nurture and regenerate life in the soil, plants and wildlife, building resilience and growing healthy, expressive fruit to make wine.

Organics and biodynamics

Each vineyard is certified organic with BioGro and the vineyards we own, Home, Damsteep and Netherwood are certified biodynamic with Demeter, practices we believe in to build soil health. Together with a healthy team of humans, we believe healthy soil is the other key to to grow great wines and look after the planet. 

Organics means we avoid using systemic chemicals on our land. We also use regenerative and biodynamic practices: encouraging plant diversity and cover crops while minimising cultivation and soil compaction. We make and apply compost and biodynamic preparations, while our cattle and our neighbours' sheep graze weeds and grasses and recycle nutrients adding another layer of diversity to each site.

We have farmed biodynamically since 2007 and have been certified Demeter certified since 2022. Rooted in Rudolf Steiner's teachings, biodynamics asks us to see each farm as a complete living system, where the vines, soils, animals, people and rhythms of the seasons are all a part of one whole.

It sounds philosophical until you are out in the vineyard at six in the morning, noticing something you would never have noticed otherwise. Biodynamics helps us pay attention and tune in to ensure each farm is humming with its own rhythms.

In the long run, encouraging this natural harmony allows for the land to sustain itself and provide for generations after us. And we hope provide better quality and interesting wine.

Regenerative agriculture

The vineyards are not monocultures. Between the rows you'll find grasses, herbs and flowering plants, sown carefully and now regenerating to build organic matter, attract beneficial insects and keep the soil teeming with microbial life underfoot. You can feel it.

Our low-line angus cattle graze the surrounding blocks all year round, moving to a new block each morning to graze the diverse mix of plants before moving on to the next.  Regenerative grazing encourages recycling of nutrients to the land, diversity, building resilient root systems, and sequestering carbon every time the leaves use the sun's energy to photosynthesise sequestering carbon. Encouraging that kind of balanced diversity, and strong ecosystem above and below the ground builds soil health and helps build resilience for our vines in this challenging time of climate change.

The cows (and our neighbour's sheep) have a good life here — a diverse diet of pastures and browsing larger trees like oaks and willows. 

We're now serving our beef in the restaurant, our first step into food production beyond wine, and a rewarding one. If we're going to raise animals here, we want to produce tasty, nutrient-dense food that respects the animal.  We also want to leave our land in better health than we found it. The process is deeply satisfying.

You can buy our beef mince at the cellar door and sometimes online, or try dishes using it in the restaurant.

Four small hillside vineyards

Explore Home, Damsteep, Netherwood and Skypunch across the north-facing hillsides of Omihi, Waipara Valley. 

Vineyard Map

Home Vineyard

Home Vineyard lies on a gentle north-facing hill in the Omihi sub-district, six kilometres north-east of Waipara Junction. The soils are Awapuni clay loam over calcium carbonate deposits: giving the wines their texture and weight.

The original vines were planted by Russell and Kumiko Black in 1994. They planted ungrafted mostly clone 10/5 Pinot Noir and Mendoza Chardonnay in 3.8-hectare blocks.  We purchased the property from Russell in 2007, kept the name, and have farmed it organically and biodynamically ever since. The original vines remain on their own roots. 

In 2011 we planted another 2 hectares much closer together, at 6,177 vines per hectare, with a mix of clones: 115, 667, 828, 943, Abel and UCD5. We've farmed Home organically and biodynamically since 2007 and it became fully certified organic with BioGro (5202) in March 2017, and was first certified Demeter on 22 March 2022.

Wines

Netherwood

Netherwood was planted by Daniel Schuster and Russell Black in 1986, making it the oldest of our four vineyard sites and the first hillside planting in Waipara. Its soils are classified as Waipara Greensand – a green-grey, richly glauconitic sandstone – with some clay in the north facing blocks. Netherwood has slopes facing both north and south.

Two hectares of mainly north facing Pinot Noir was planted here with mass selection cuttings and on its own roots and has always been farmed without irrigation. 

The 0.9-hectare Chardonnay block, also planted in 1986, sits on a south-facing hillside, its vines a mass selection thought to have originated from Mendoza Chardonnay cuttings. 

The combination of aspect, sandstone and clay makes Netherwood a site of layers.  The yields are not pretty but the wines are unique for New Zealand and we cant seem to replace them quite yet. 

Netherwood houses our winery and home, a herd of low-line angus cows and 10 chickens. 

The Netherwood Vineyard gained full organic certification with Biogro in March 2017 and was certified biodynamic with Demeter on 22 March 2022.  

Wines

Damsteep

Damsteep sits at the foot of the Omihi Saddle, 10 kilometres north of Home, and it feels different the moment you arrive. The vineyard climbs a north-east facing slope between 140 and 180 metres above sea level.

The Pinot Noir and Riesling vines here were planted in 1999 on a 7.5 hectare vineyard at more than 5000 vines per hectare with 11 different parcels of various north-east, north, and north-west facing slopes. The soils are a mix of clay overlying fractured limestone and sandstone soils.  


Five hectare of Pinot Noir was planted in fractured limestone and sandstone under clay, dense and complex and high in organic matter. The Pinot Noir clones here are 10-5 (ungrafted), Clone 5, 114, 115, 667, 777. 

The Riesling sits on 2.2 hectares of very dense brown-orange clay interbedded with sandstone and a small amount of limestone falling from the top blocks. The Riesling clone is GM110.

Both varieties suit the site in different ways: the elevation and the limestone give the Damsteep Pinot Noir its structure and tension, while the Riesling gives texture and weight and something mineral in that layered clay. 

Damsteep vineyard is certified organic with BioGro in March 2017 was certified biodynamic and with Demeter on 22 March 2022.   (Biogro 5202)

Wines

Skypunch

Skypunch sits on the hill beside our Home vineyard, owned by our friends Julianne Liebeck and Conor Paton - it's an easy walk for a glass of wine after work!  We began leasing it in 2023 and have been farming it the same way we farm everything else: organically, by hand, with as little interference as possible. 

The vineyard has 2 hectares of Pinot Gris and half a hectare of Viognier, two varieties new to our line-up. So far, the Viognier and Pinot Gris seem to want to be in the glass, textural, with confident fruit and very refreshing. We are enjoying looking after this land.  This vineyard was certified organic in 2023 (Biogro 5202). 

Wines

Climate

Sitting between the South Island's Main Divide mountains and the pacific ocean on the East Coast, our vineyards are shaped by North Canterbury’s cool, challenging and changeable climate. 

The nights are cool, all year around and we have moderate temperatures in the growing season and usually long dry autumns. We have four distinct seasons, but the weather is very changeable due to our skinny South Island with a back bone of a mountain range so each growing season brings something different and keeps us on our toes. 

Check out the records of each season below. 

Season Reports

Soil, Vine, and Duration

What does it actually mean to farm a place? Winemaker Nicholas Brown has been working out the answer since 2007. It’s partly known, partly unknown.

In Conversation

Season Report

2026

Bud burst occurred around the spring equinox in all vineyards. Unusually there were no spring frosts. October and November were very dry and windy. This restricted early season shoot growth and steam elongation leading to small canopies. Conditions at flowering in November were warm and humid. This meant ok fruit set but very high disease pressure. This humidity continued through summer and kept our vineyard team busy focusing on right spray rounds to control disease pressure and continued leaf removal to increase ventilation in the canopies. Cool nights and warm days in March retained acidy and allowed ripening to build flavours to the required levels leading up to harvest. Settled weather

conRnued right through harvest which began on March 10 was completed on April 9.

2025

Winter and early spring rainfalls were only moderate but vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. Bud burst was seven to ten days early, which meant vulnerability to frosts in mid September and as late as early November. Dry conditions continued until late November when humid overcast conditions became more common until late January. Mild temperatures through veraison allowed gradual even ripening until hand harvesting, which commenced on March 11 and was complete by April 14.

2024

Winter and early spring rainfalls meant vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. This continued through December, which allowed good spring growth. Some intermittent rain around flowering meant fruit set was disrupted and developing bunches were small. Warm dry weather from January to April provided low disease pressure and good ripening for developing grape bunches. Cool nights in March retained acidity and slowed ripening. Hand harvest began in early March where small clusters of ripe, concentrated, disease free fruit were received. Settled weather continued right through harvest, which was completed on April 14.

2023

Winter and early spring rainfalls meant vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. Some cool night time temperatures in September kept us on frost alert but we were able to avoid any frost damage. Timing of bud burst and flowering ran seven to ten days later than previous seasons but in line with the long term average. Bud burst occurred at the Home Block around the Spring equinox. Shoot growth was even across the block and kept the field team busy with hand weeding, shoot thinning, and then wire lifting. Post flowering we experienced higher humidity levels than normal, which averaged 82% through the normally dry December, January, and February months. Thorough leaf removal around the fruit zone was undertaken through the blocks and spray intervals were tightened up to manage the potentially high disease pressure from powdery mildew. Harvest commenced in mid March where our field team carefully hand harvested and sorted each bunch of fruit to ensure the best possible flavours of the season could be captured. We are relieved and happy to savour every wine from this unique and challenging season.

2022

Winter and early spring rainfalls meant vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. Some cool night time temperatures in September kept us on frost alert but we were able to avoid any frost damage. Timing of bud burst and flowering ran seven to ten days later than previous seasons but in line with the long term average. Buds appeared at Home Block around the Spring equinox. Shoot growth was even across the block and kept the field team busy with hand weeding, shoot thinning, and then wire lifting. Post flowering we experienced higher humidity levels than normal, which averaged 82% through the normally dry December, January, and February months. Thorough leaf removal around the fruit zone was undertaken through the block and spray intervals were tightened up to manage the potentially high disease pressure from powdery mildew. Harvest commenced in mid March where our field team carefully hand harvested and sorted each bunch of fruit to ensure the best possible flavours of the season could be captured. A machine harvester was used where weather threatened the crop and allowed us to bring our fruit in as quickly as possible where fruit appeared fragile. We are relieved and happy to savour every wine from this unique and challenging season.

2021

Winter and early spring rainfalls meant vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. Very cold night time temperatures in late September and mid October caused significant frost damage across many vineyards in North Canterbury. Once vineyards rebounded, rapid vegetative growth kept vineyard teams busy with shoot thinning, under-vine cultivation, and organic spray rounds with short intervals. Weather at flowering was unfavourable, with rain and cool temperatures lowering fruit set and further reducing potential yield. Warm dry conditions in January and February slowed vegetative growth. Small bunches ripened fast with accelerated sugar accumulation, leading to an early start to harvest. Harvest was done by hand and fruit was ripe and clean with low disease pressure. Harvest across our three vineyards was rapid and completed in settled weather, resulting in high quality fruit with good ripeness and bright acidity.

2020

Winter and early spring rainfalls and moderate temperatures meant vines grew evenly throughout our vineyards from around the spring equinox in late September. Frost incidence was moderate, keeping us watchful in October and November, with the majority of our vineyards avoiding frost damage. Rapid vegetative growth kept our vineyard team busy with shoot thinning, cultivation, and organic spray rounds with short intervals. Weather at flowering was favourable for Pinot Noir. Warm dry conditions in January and February slowed vegetative growth and ripened fruit. Settled conditions in March allowed an early start to harvest where hand harvested fruit was ripe and clean with low disease pressure and optimal ripeness. Mid way through harvest we closed our restaurant and the entire Black Estate team was able to work together to ensure our harvest was completed successfully. Thanks to them we were able to harvest some of the highest quality fruit ever seen at Black Estate.

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