Moana Park Estate reveals brand new bottle design, introduces New Zealand to Lo-Fi Wine
Following a successful change of ownership 12 months ago, one of the Hawkes Bay’s best loved wineries, Moana Park Estate has this month released a brand-new look across its Lo-Fi premium wines.
Featuring nautical creatures and tales of the sea, the new-look bottles draw on the history of Moana Park Estate’s heritage 3-hectare Puketapu block, home of the Hawkes Bay’s number one rated winery and cellar door. The land was, for thousands of years, nutrient dense seabed, raised from the ocean during the Napier Earthquake in 1931.
![Three wines from the Moana Park Growers' Collection](https://nzwinedirectory.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Growers-Collection.jpg)
Just as the great natural forces shifted the land a century ago, head winemaker Dan Barker has pioneered techniques of winemaking over his 15 years with the brand, to embrace the whims of nature and create completely additive free wines that are a pure joy to drink.
“I learnt early on in my winemaking career that I suffer from allergies to preservative sulphites, which are added to a vast majority of wines in New Zealand,” says Dan. “As a winemaker who couldn’t enjoy the fruits of my labour, I set about fixing the problem. I wanted to take the winemaking process back to basics, with a hands-off approach that requires no preservatives. At Moana Park we call it Lo-Fi winemaking.
“While wine production is certainly a highly cultivated and lovingly crafted process, our Lo-Fi approach at Moana Park Estate allows for our wine to speak for itself, to tell its own stories of the land it comes from, with no need for additives.
Moana Park creates wines with lower human interference, reducing any risk of oxidisation and eliminating the need for preservatives such as sulphites.
![Two wines from the Moana Park Estate Series](https://nzwinedirectory.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Estate-Series.jpg)
“We first started creating wine this way over 15 years ago. At the time, there was little interest or demand from consumers for this type of wine.
“But now, it’s clear we’ve led the way for other wineries to produce additive free, plant based, vegan friendly wines. Often characterised as ‘natural wine’, we prefer to call this method Lo-Fi, giving us room to acknowledge real sustainability both in the vineyard and in the winery.
“The approach has experienced a huge rise in demand over the past few years. We are thrilled to have been a part of this story in New Zealand.”
No stranger to pioneering winemaking in New Zealand, Moana Park Estate was first planted with vines in 1981 with some of New Zealand’s oldest Sauvignon Blanc. Since opening the winery and cellar door in 2000, its portfolio of vineyards has expanded beyond the heritage block in Puketapu to draw from other iconic Hawkes Bay sub-regions, including the prized Gimblett Gravels.
![](https://nzwinedirectory.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Moana-September-015-2.jpg)
New owners Grant Humphrey and Ross Burney of Taiga Group Limited are particularly excited to reveal the new look Moana Park Estate to New Zealand and the world, after the brand experienced a rise in sales in offshore markets following their acquisition last August.
“We are so thrilled to reveal the new look Moana Park Estate wines to New Zealand and on to the world,” says Grant. “For Moana Park Estate, it’s about showcasing the heritage of the brand. And for our New Zealand-based customers we would love to see you at our Cellar Door for an unpretentious, warm and welcoming atmosphere and a magical tasting experience.
The new look Lo-Fi wines were officially launched at Labour Weekend with guests enjoying ‘Sounds at the Cellar’ featuring Hollie Smith performing live at Moana Park Estate.
You can find the freshly rebranded Moana Park Estate wines from October exclusively at the Moana Park Estate Cellar Door, online and at select liquor stores later this year.
Visit : https://moanaparkwines.com/ to find out more and purchase wine online.