MILLTON

In 1984 James and Annie Millton established their winery in Manutuke on the banks of the Te Arai River. From the beginning they understood that great grapes come from healthy vines living in healthy soil and as the highest quality was the goal they started growing their grapes bio-dynamically. This involves minimum intervention without the use of herbicide, insecticide, soluble fertiliser or systemic fungicide.

The vineyards are situated in four locations in the Manutuke and Matawhero districts. Traditional viticulture is practised in all vineyards. No insecticide, herbicide, systemic fungicide or soluble fertilisers are used in the vineyard, making The Millton Vineyard New Zealand's first commercial fully certified organic winegrowers.

James Millton, owner and Winemaker for Millton says, "Our philosophy is to produce a selection of specialised table wines. These wines should give an expression of the natural flavours found in the grapes harvested from our vineyards in the Gisborne region."

Millton produce a range of biodynamic, organic and sustainably grown wines.

James Millton

James Millton has worked and trained all his life in the winegrowing industry completing relevant wine courses in Bordeaux, France and Mainz, Germany after which he spent two years working as a cellar master in the Rheinhessen district of Germany. James and his wife Annie established Millton Vineyards and Winery in 1984 and has produced certified wine from bio-dynamically grown grapes since that time. James is one of the 10 original biodynamic winegrowers in the world and is certainly the instigator of this practice in the Southern Hemisphere. He has been instrumental in establishing COWNZ (Certified Organic Winegrowers of New Zealand) in a bid to co-ordinate the requirements of Winegrowers New Zealand with a certifying agency. He has sat on the council of the Bio-dynamic Farming and Gardening Association for three years and he was also a senior wine judge for the Air New Zealand National Wine competition, International Chardonnay Challenge, Bragato Wine Competition and Decanter Magazine in the United Kingdom. He is involved in sabbatical work every 3 years in the wine regions of France including St. Emilion, Vouvray and the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy. James covers all roles within The Millton Vineyards; he is part of every process within the winegrowing business – from the vineyard, in the cellar and right through to export. For no other reason it is his desire to grow and produce the highest quality wine possible and has a tendency to prefer wine styles that compliment food, flavour and laughter more than intriguing samples on a judges bench.