Riverbrook holds deep meaning for our family.

The vineyard was planted by William’s parents, John and Philippa, between 1979 and 1980, in the very early days of the Marlborough wine industry.

Situated on the Golden Mile in the central Wairau Valley, Riverbrook is former riverbed, and you can feel that history underfoot: swales of large greywacke stones running through the blocks. These stones soak up the sun’s energy during the day and radiate it back into the canopy as temperatures cool, creating a warm, even microclimate that is ideal for ripening Chardonnay in Marlborough.

 Year after year, Riverbrook delivers fruit of striking intensity – white peach, citrus and red apple, carried on a fine seam of minerality. Because the soils here are extremely variable, it took time and a lot of tasting to pinpoint the one true sweet spot within the block, but once we found it, there was no question: this was where Novum Chardonnay needed to come from. Today, that single parcel is the sole source of our Chardonnay – a focused expression of Riverbrook’s history and its stony riverbed origins, shaped by careful, small‑scale winegrowing.

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