Our Vineyard

The 3 hectare boutique vineyard located at 37 Duck Creek Road in the Matakana appellation was planted in 2003. The vineyard comprises about 1.5 hectare of Syrah, with the remainder being in Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot allowing Runner Duck Estate to produce a pure Bordeaux varietal,a Syrah, a methode tradittionale and a Rose.

Another 0.5ha plot at Plume on Sharp road planted in the early 90s produces a crop of Sangiovaise. Runner Duck also produces a semi dry Pinot gris and a fruity Chardonnay in each year. Ofcourse Runner Ducks commitment to quality wines will not allow it to produce wines from substandard years.

The distinct brand, apart from the fortuitous link with the nationality and historic career of the Runner Duck Estate’s owners, reflects the shape of the Indian Runner Duck, a breed of duck often linked to the shape of a wine bottle.

Sustainability

We believe in the concept of terroir and the health of the soil and bio-diversity of the land. We have followed the Sustainable Wine Growers’ New Zealand nil residue programme during the year of vintage 2010 and have achieved full accreditation under their programme for vintage 2011.

Our sustainable commitment is shown in the things we do to grow our grapes and make our wine.

• No irrigation is practised on the vineyard in the tradition of global best practices.
• Minimum insecticides are applied in our spray programmes.
• We use minimum of copper applications as the same remains in the soil forever.
• We do yearly soil and petiole tests to determine focussed nutrient application programmes.
• We return all non-diseased organic matter to the soil through an advanced Berti mulcher.
• We prune our roots and rip the soil each year to control vigour.
• All our vineyard operations, except for the spraying programme, mulching and canopy trimming are done by hand with tender loving care thereby ensuring the least compaction to the soil.
• We encourage the bio-diversity of the soil by applications of mycorrcin, Agri SC and digester.
• We are committed to making great wine with nil residues as our responsibility to the wine drinking population of this world.