Hans Herzog Wine Tasting
Wednesday, 9th September 2026 at 12.00pm
An informal lunchtime wine tasting with esteemed New Zealand wine maker Hans Herzog, they will be here to talk through their wines and help explain the flavours, smells and tasting notes on some of their standout wines.
The estate is in Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand. Single organic-estate wines, handpicked and handcrafted from extremely low yields for natural elegance and complexity. The Hans Family Estate is all about small-scale, organic wines with personality. Everything comes from a single vineyard, is handpicked and handcrafted, and made in tiny quantities to let natural elegance and complexity shine.
The estate sits on an 11.5-hectare organic vineyard beside the Wairau River. Founded in 1994 by Swiss winemaker Hans Herzog and his wife Therese, it’s now one of New Zealand’s most distinctive boutique wineries. The wines are made in very small batches, with a hands-on, low-intervention approach that lets the vineyard speak for itself.
Hans comes from a Swiss winegrowing family with more than 500 years of history. After formal training and decades of experience, he and Therese chose Marlborough for its sunny climate, free-draining soils, and big day–night temperature shifts – perfect conditions for organic growing and slow, even ripening.
The Vineyard & Way of Working
- Organic and low-impact: Fully BioGro-certified organic, with a strong focus on sustainable and biodynamic ideas.
- Very low yields: Grapes are left to ripen fully on the vine, then hand-picked and carefully selected for maximum flavour.
- A wide mix of varieties: Over 25 grape varieties are grown, from classics to rare finds – far more diversity than most NZ vineyards.
- True sense of place: Alluvial soils and long sunshine hours give ripe fruit, bright acidity, and clear varietal character.
Winemaking Style
Hans keeps things as natural and straightforward as possible:
- Wild fermentations using the vineyard’s own yeasts
- No added yeast, sugar, acid, enzymes, or tannins
- Just a small amount of sulphur for stability
- No fining or filtration (or very minimal for some whites)
- Long ageing in high-quality French oak (around 18–30 months)
- Every step, from grape to bottle, happens on the estate
Standout Wines
Production changes from year to year, but highlights include:
- Pinot Noir – elegant, layered, and finely balanced
- Nebbiolo – a rare New Zealand take on this classic Italian grape, with top international praise
- Zweigelt – New Zealand’s first release of this Austrian variety, showing savoury depth and structure
- Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon blends – textured, complex, often with oak influence
- Viognier, Arneis, and other Mediterranean varieties – shaped by the site’s unique microclimate and Hans’ curiosity