Cobblestone in New Zealand

The family owned and operated Cobblestone Vineyards has gone global with the acquisition of a New Zealand pinot noir vineyard.

The small property, planted to pinot noir clones, is on the Te Muna Terrace in Martinborough, adjacent to winemaker Larry McKenna’s Escarpment Vineyards, and near to Craggy Range’s Te Muna Road estate. Cobblestone plans to produce around 500 cases annually of pinot noir from the low-yielding vineyard.
 Cobblestone Director P.J. Ochlan said, “We’ve quite literally gone to the ends of the earth to try to produce the finest pinot imaginable.”

 Te Muna is Maori for “secret” or “special place.”
FM radio pioneer Saul Levine and his wife Anita started Cobblestone Vineyards in 1971 with a 30-acre property in what became Monterey’s Arroyo Seco AVA. In 1997 they acquired a mountaintop property on Atlas Peak in the Napa Valley, which they planted to Bordeaux varietals. With winemaker Sam Baxter and brand director P.J. Ochlan, they released their own wines under the Cobblestone label.