Pyramid Valley

North Canterbury

The wines of Pyramid Valley are born in the dramatic soils and slopes of the Waikari Estate in North Canterbury and the Pyramid Valley Mānatu Estate in Central Otago. Established in 2000, by Mike and Claudia Elze Weersing, the estate created remarkable wines, recognised the world over, for close to 20 years.

In 2017 Steve Smith MW (perhaps best known for establishing Craggy Range) and his business partner and wildlife conservationist Brian Sheth took over the estate, and are building on the work done by the Weersings to fulfil the full potential of the site. In 2018 they purchased a second vineyard in Lowburn, Central Otago called Manata Estate, an established vineyard that has produced exceptional Pinot Noir since 2002.

Staying true to the estate’s founding principles, both sites are managed following the principals of biodynamic viticulture and the winemaking follows natural principles.

Estate Manager and Winemaker

Huw Kinch

Estate Manager and Winemaker Huw Kinch has guided this new chapter of Pyramid Valley since 2018.

Huw studied winemaking in Australia, worked vintages around Australia and America, and then came to New Zealand in 2007 to do a vintage in Hawke’s Bay at Trinity Hill, and ended up never really leaving New Zealand.

He worked two vintages at Trinity and then in the Winter of 2008 moved to Martinborough and worked with Larry McKenna there for ten years, before joining Steve and Ben. Huw’s background is more winemaking, and but welcomed the opportunity to come to Pyramid and manage its development, and so he combines viticulture and winemaking as well.

From the Earth to the Bottle

Blessed with some of the oldest vines in Central Otago, and soils of rare distinction, the vineyard in Lowburn, has produced exceptional Pinot Noir since 2002.

Waikari, in North Canterbury, is a unique site where rich, rocky, limestone and clay derived soils sit on high-altitude north and east facing slopes. More than 80 hectares are planted with small plots of vines, located where the soils and aspect are just right. It’s home to exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The property has been farmed biodynamically from the beginning, a philosophy which looks after the soil and tries to respond to, and work with nature. The ultimate goal at Pyramid Valley is to ‘guide the wines from the earth to the bottle’, producing wines that ‘truly breathe of their place’.