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The Mudhouse Story
Named after a mud block house built in the founding vineyard, the Mud House Wine Company produced its first wines in 1996, growing from 300 cases to over 90,000 today. Mud House Wines is now owned by four New Zealand families.
WINEMAKER – NADINE WORLEY Nadine has been with Mud House Wines as a Winemaker for five years. Australian born, Nadine studied oenology for four years at Adelaide University. After graduation, she worked with cool-climate varietals in western Victoria and the Adelaide Hills before spending two vintages at a family winery in Italy. A preference for cool climate winemaking has made it easy for Nadine to put down roots in New Zealand. She says there’s nothing better than the smell of a perfect sauvignon blanc ferment. “Lift the lid on the tank and behind the yeast will be pungent aromas of passionfruit and guava. That’s when you know it’s going to be good.” REGIONAL AND VARIETAL SPECIALISATION Mud House owns vineyards in three key New Zealand winegrowing regions. This enables Mud House to make the most of each region’s unique characteristics to produce the varietals which grow best in these regions. Mud House specialises in Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Central Otago Pinot Noir and Aromatics from the Waipara Valley. The Mud House reserve range comprises single vineyard wines: Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Riesling, known as the Estate Range (formerly Swan Reserve). MARLBOROUGH With one of the longest ripening periods in the world, Marlborough provides most of the company’s production, with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc capturing the imagination of wine drinkers across the globe. Mud House own 250 acres and source grapes from another 236 acres of long term contract vineyards. click here for vineyard map The Wairau Valley is a unique ancient river site. The river moved over the valley depositing silt, loamy soil and gravel which in turn produces a spectrum of exciting flavours. More recent planting has also taken place on the southern-side valleys of the Wairau click here for vineyard map, at Fairhall, Hawkesbury and Waihopai. The vineyards further south in the Awatere Valley click here for vineyard map offer a different aspect altogether with more mineral tones. WAIPARA Just forty minutes north of Christchurch city lies one of New Zealand’s fastest growing wine regions - Waipara. Mud House own 500 acres of vineyards planted with mouth-watering aromatic varietals such as Riesling and Pinot Gris which thrive in this special region. Shelter provided by the coastal hills to the east is an important feature of Waipara’s grape-growing environment. Warm winds dry out the soil, taking some of the vigour out of the vines which encourages full ripeness and intensity. Soil types range from gravelly deposits close to the Waipara River, to heavier, limestonederived clays on the east side of the valley. Nestled in the heart of this burgeoning valley is the impressive Mud House Winery and Restaurant. click here for vineyard map CENTRAL OTAGO Central Otago is the world’s southern most wine producing region and New Zealand’s only ‘continental’ region. It is famous for vibrant, full-flavoured Pinot Noir with spicy, cherry-like flavours and a velvety smooth texture. Hot summers, cold winters and enormous temperature extremes between day and night create the intense flavours and colour. From heavy silt loams, gravels and light sands to broken schist and clays, Central Otago’s vines are planted in a dramatically wide range of soils. Mud House’s vineyard has stony sub-soils, with good water drainage, which help to promote ripe, intense, aromatic characters in the wine. Mud House’s Golden Terraces vineyard is approximately 250 acres – one of the largest in Central Otago, based in the Bendigo area of the Cromwell Basin looking out over Lake Dunstan. click here for vineyard map
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