Te Aro Wine, Wellington’s first urban winery, will release its first two wines tonight at Mean Doses Brewery, just around the corner from where the wine was made at Te Aro Wine's Ebor Street winery.
Wine director Jules van Costello said it’s important for wine lovers to get a taste of how wine is really made. “Urban wineries allow people to get their hands dirty,” he said. “It allows them to see and feel how wine is made, removed from the bucolic imagery of rows of vineyards and small rural wine towns.”
Te Aro Wine was established in early 2018 with a mission of creating “fun wine, not fine wine” by Robin Groves and Jules van Costello. Working with vineyards in Hawkes Bay and Martinborough, Te Aro Wine has created a range of wines from the 2018 vintage including Sauvignon Blanc, sparkling, Pinot Noir and Rosé. The two wines being released are Fruit Bomb of Truthiness, a super-fruity Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and Toil and Trouble, a Hawkes Bay grown Pet-Nat.
As well as wine made in central Wellington, Te Aro Wine will also sell wines that are produced and bottled for the winery by like-minded producers.
“The urban winery movement is growing internationally”, said van Costello, “With production facilities in many cities that have easy access to local vineyards but also in cities like London and even Gothenburg which are far removed from the nearest vineyard. We think it's time to bring this concept to Wellington and give this city its own winery.”
The Te Aro Wine cellar door will open in November.
