Our
STORY
Terra Sancta means "sacred earth" or "special place".
We are crafting wine in one of the most privileged parts of the world, Bannockburn, which is tucked away in Central Otago, New Zealand.
Terra Sancta is a 100% Bannockburn producer with our four vineyards, winery and team all located in this unique, beautiful part of the world.
Mark and Sarah, the co-founders, together with our winemaking and viticulture team lead by Jody Pagey and Len Ibbotson, have a focus on not just making thrilling and memorable wines, but on providing people with great experiences.
Wine is a part of life, not separate from it.
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Our vineyard home
Since
1991
The famed Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago has long been viewed as very special earth. First by the miners who sluiced the hills in their search for gold, and now by wine makers and wine drinkers, who believe that the earth of Bannockburn produces some of the best Pinot Noir in the world. Tucked safely on a thin tendril of land between the old gold mining hills and ruins behind, and the edges of the brilliant glacial blue of the Kawarau River in front, our wine comes from a spectacular place. The Estate comprises two main areas, the part that borders the river, called Terra, and the part that runs along Felton Road, named Sancta. Terra Sancta's other two vineyards are based on the Cairnmuir Road side of Bannockburn and are called The Diggings, and The Irresistible Race.
Our terrior
Wine uniquely translates the earth into a tangible aroma and flavour experience. The schist gravels and the wild thyme with its throw of perfume, create a unique experience of this particular place. Located on Felton Road, the Terra Sancta Estate contains the first vines planted in Bannockburn, and indeed in the entire Wanaka-Cromwell-Bendigo region. Our vineyard has over 6,000 trees and is alive with bees and butterflies, while the earth is covered with the wild thyme that grows so uniquely in the area.
Our wines
Making Pinot Noir is difficult, but rewarding - and often likened to the pursuit of the holy grail for winemakers. The vision of the estate is to produce beautiful wines for generations. We have three categories of wines: Single Block wines, made only of Pinot Noir, and a truly distinctive expression of the particular blocks from which they emanate; an Estate range of wines made from the Terra Sancta estate; and the delicious, earlier drinking, superb quality Mysterious Diggings range. Our wines are handcrafted, and consistently recognised as distinctive. Our Pinot Noirs, in particular, have won multiple awards, and consistently rate amongst the best New Zealand wines. We are aiming to have the best quality wine in each price category.
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Our focus and direction
The focus of the next decades is simple; to build an enduring company that produces beautiful wines, over which people enjoy great experiences. We feel privileged to share our wines and vineyards with anyone with a love for or interest in wine, whether a Master of Wine, or someone who is curious and has never been to a vineyard before.
Slapjack Vineyard, in all of its lush glory.
Wlild Thyme grows freely behind the vineyard. The aroma in spring is intoxicating.
Our Terra
We are a Bannockburn producer with all four vineyards and our winery based here. Our heritage, and our future, is tied to the land in this distinctive sub-region of Central Otago.
The distinctive, and mysterious, earth dug and carved by generations of dreamers.
The level of schist in the soils is stunning.
Since the arrival of the deadly vine pest phylloxera in Burgundy in the 1870s, the Pinot Noir grape has, almost without exception, been grafted onto phylloxera resistant American rootstock.
As the owner of Domaine Henry-Marrionet, the owner of the oldest vineyard France, has said, “We have the luck to possess the oldest vineyard of France, which was planted in 1850...Wines coming from ungrafted vines give much more complex aromas, a more pronounced red colour, and greater density, volume, and much greater richness in the mouth....The wines from ungrafted vines have more of everything, and greater length. The rootstock acts as a filter.”
We are lucky to have vines on their original rootstock, with the outcomes of true natural integration of root and trunk obvious in our Terra Sancta wines.
There is real financial risk in this strategy, as phylloxera is still very much alive and kicking and, if it gets in your vineyard, it can wipe you out.
At Terra Sancta we carry this risk on a number of our vines, but think the resulting wine - including the natural clarity and concentration of the integrated, natural, ungrafted vine, is worth it.
The truth of these ungrafted vines can be tasted in particular in Slapjack Block Pinot Noir- which comes entirely from vines on their own rootsock, as do the Terra Sancta Estate Riesling and Dry Rielsing, while Jackson’s Block comes predominantly from original rootstock.
Our Vineyards
Terra Sancta is all about the vineyard. As Terry Theise, in a book called Between the Vines, says “A great vineyard’s wines are not merely riper, they are in every way more expressive, more complex, more beautiful.” This is how we feel about our vineyards. Together the adjoining Terra Vineyard and Sancta Vineyards make up the Terra Sancta Estate, as shown on the below map. For a larger version, go to our Vineyard Map
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For centuries, wine makers - and wine drinkers - have been aware of the interaction between soil variation and the quality and character of the wine.
Just as in burgundy the famous terriors are characterized by limestone, the great vineyards of Bannockburn, and indeed Central Otago, are distinctive globally in their density of schist and schisty gravels. The soils on all our Bannockburn vineyards are characterised by soils comprised of substantial amounts of schist gravels, with varying proportions of silty loam, clay, and sandy loam in different spots. This is why we can produce three such different single block wines, and why the Terra Santa Estate Pinot Noir and the Mysterious Diggings Pinot Noir have such different aroma and flavor profiles, and are such distinct wines.
More than any other product of he land, the flavors and aromas of wine are linked to the soil, a linkage that is central to the concept of terrior. [Robert White, 2008].
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The above photo taken from Sancta vineyard (Miro's Block) - show that our soils are dense with schist stones and gravels. This photo shows the soil from 5 feet below the surface (the top of the hole) to 11 feet below. This is where our new winery is, so had a unique opportunity to inspect the soils at "root depth."
The below photo shows an intensive sheep trial we are running on Terra vineyard.
These cool Merino sheep are doing (nearly) all the jobs that humans & machines usually perform on the vineyard. They are...
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Mowing (via grazing)
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Killing weeds (more grazing)
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Bud rubbing (yet more grazing....requires them to be a little hungry at all times)
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Bunch thinning (requires them to be nearly full, with an active shephard on hand)
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Providing sustainence for the non-vegetarian harvest staff in fall
The benefits of this are really nice:
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No sprays
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No fertilizer (the sheep provide plenty)
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No fertigation (ditto)
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No machines (hence no soil compaction and predictable moisture absorbtion rates)
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A lot more fun in the vineyard for the team
Our precious pet goats Neroli (blonde) & Thyme (chocolate ears)
Terra Vineyard
Terra vineyard sits neatly between two of Mt. Difficulty’s exceptional vineyards - Long Gully and Manson’s Farm. On the north the vineyard goes to the cliff edge above the Kawareau river. Together with the Sancta Vineyard, Terra Vineyard make up Terra Sancta Estate.
There are two blocks on the Vineyard - Shingle Beach, which sits right above a historic beach on which gold panning was so successful in the mid 1800’s, and Riverblock. The vineyard was originally planted by the pioneering Oregon vintner Gary Andrus, who planted the block, in his search for the New World holy grail of Pinot Noir.
Taking a maverick approach, Gary planted the 2.6 hectare Shingle Beach block in traditional burgundy style. Along with the tiny and high quality Georgetown vineyard, this is the only Burgundian style planting in Central Otago. We are still learning how the vine types, the river breeze, the sand and schist dense soils, and the planting patterns combine. One of the most exciting things about the decades to come is how the wines from this block will evolve. We can’t wait to do a 20 year vertical in 2033!
Sancta Vineyard
The Sancta vineyard is a gently sloping, north facing vineyard, running down from the hills behind toward the Kawerau river in front. The vineyard’s slope varies across Sancta, but it averages around 4%, with some steeper parts. Together with the Terra Vineyard, the Sancta Vineyard make up Terra Sancta Estate.
Soils
Detailed analysis of Sancta vineyard shows that it has a very high percentage of schist in the soil. The presence of such high degrees of schist facilitates excellent drainage. At deeper levels of the vineyard, samples show that schist gravels make up about 75% of the soil profile, with the remainder being loam and clay. This unique soil makeup is crucial in driving the flavors that define Terra Sancta’s wines.
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In a survey with 26 samples from various parts of the Sancta vineyard, research has shown that the first 40cm below the surface at Sancta vineyard is predominantly sandy gravels. From 40cm to 1m deep, the Sancta vineyard is about 70-75% of schist gravels, with the remainder a mixture of sandy loam and clay. There is then a 10cm band from 1m to 1.1 metre deep where the soil is higher in sandy loam, before again becoming characterised by dense schisty gravels (just under 80% of the soil) as you get deeper. Some of the oldest vines, such as on Slapjack Block, seem to have got their roots so deep that they do not need irrigation, even during the dryest periods.
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Sancta is also a truly diverse environment - and the opposite of the singular monoculture that characterises many vineyards. Dense with trees and shrubs, it is a wonderful place for a summer picnic, in particular outside the Cellar Door, or next to the top pond.
Diggings Vineyard
On the Cainmuir side of Bannockburn, the Diggings vineyard is planted on a high, rocky outcrop and is one of the highest vineyards in Bannockburn. The vineyard’s slope varies across Sancta, but is estimated at around 10%.
The Diggings looks down and across the river behind Cornish Point. With its higher elevation than the estate, and with soils characterized by relatively more gravels and sandy loam than Terra and Sancta, the Diggings produces wines of a more delicate weight, and are therefore accessible earlier. The fruit from the Diggings Vineyard will go entirely into the Mysterious Diggings Pinot Noir.
Vineyard Map
The map of Terra Sancta is not exactly google earth...while the geographical details are all surveyed and accurate, as a map of our vineyards it shows what is there, how it feels, and identifies all the key blocks from which every one of our wines comes.
