Greystone Wines

Greystone is a place where wine, food and people combine to create an experience totally unique to the Waipara wine-growing region. Here you’ll find award-winning wines and famous natural ferments that are deeply intertwined with the land and a restaurant with a menu built upon foraged ingredients from the same environment. Everything is interconnected here.

Greystone’s exceptional, hand-crafted, organic vintages sustain the connection between bottle and backyard. One of the first wineries to succeed with natural ferments and the first to ferment Pinot Noir in the row (that’s right, outside) this winery is innovative to the highest degree. Every step of the winemaking process is done onsite – from growing to vinification to bottling and labelling. The team even composts their own grape skins which then go back into the soil to support the next harvest. 

Winemaker, Dom Maxwell, has been with Greystone from day one and in 2018 was awarded New Zealand Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine – an accolade that sits amongst dozens of others the winery has earned. Dom and his team are committed to creating wine that honours the landscape and preserves the curious ecological relationships that support the array of flavour profiles on offer.

If you’d like to see first-hand the true essence of Greystone, come and visit their cellar door in Waipara. You can taste their wines with a selection of cheeses or go for the full wine pairing experience with a booking at their restaurant which was added in early 2020. The dining experience holds its own in terms of originality and specificity to environment.

Just as Greystone’s wine list reflects where it comes from, the menu brings things full circle with changing weekly offerings in tune with the season. Dishes have included wild venison ragu with handmade pasta and foraged porcini mushrooms and fresh curd with Olio Nuovo and Rachel Scott ciabatta. Naturally, every course is paired with a Greystone pour and they’re more than generous when it comes to delving deep into the library to offer older vintages. 

Whether you’ve lived in Canterbury all your life or are just here for a moment, Greystone’s expression of Canterbury is one of the most comprehensive, fascinating and delicious you’re likely to find. Don’t miss it.