DB SCHENKER TROPHY FOR NEW ZEALAND PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: MARISCO VINEYARDS
In 2003, winemaker Brent Marris began his search for a special vineyard property which would have the potential to become an iconic winery. On the banks of the Waihopai River and on the southern side of the Wairau Valley, he found a 268ha property that was just what he was looking for. “I knew immediately it had enormous potential,” recalls Marris. “Tucked between the Delta Hills and the Waihopai river, the property flows over three distinct terraces of clays and ancient river shingles, providing the fruit variation and complexity that a winemaker can normally only dream of from a single vineyard site.”
In his quest to develop an iconic property Marris expressed a vision of creating a winery situated among the vines that would be state of the art and the first of its kind in New Zealand, if not the southern hemisphere. Ground was broken in February 2009 and the winery’s first vintage was crushed in 2010.
As Marisco Vineyards’ proprietor and winemaker, Marris was Marlborough’s first born-and-raised qualified winemaker. He graduated from Roseworthy Agricultural College (South Australia) in 1983 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in oenology and, with over 20 years of grape growing, winemaking and marketing experience, Brent has become one of New Zealand’s most respected winemakers and is at the forefront of New Zealand’s viticultural development.
Marisco Vineyards produces The Ned and The Kings Series range, and Brent attributes the success of his wines to the team of people behind the brand, his “Tight 5”: winemaker Liam McElhinney, viticulturist Anton Rasmussen, sales and marketing manager Siobhan Wilson and financial director Steve Lock.
