PALLISER ESTATE

Just over an hour from Wellington, Martinborough is the undisputed superstar, the jewel of the Wairarapa wine region. One of its brightest gems is Palliser Estate, a New Zealand- owned winery that has consistently produced wines of unfailing distinction and quality for more than thirty years. Established in 1984 by Martinborough wine visionary, the late Richard Riddiford, the winery is named after Cape Palliser on the Wairarapa coast.

Since the beginning, Palliser Estate has undertaken a forward-thinking approach to all aspects of its operation. The company is currently helmed by CEO Pip Goodwin, who has been actively involved for over ten years in roles that span environmental systems, wine-making, marketing and finance. One of the region's largest wine companies, Palliser Estate owns 72 hectares stretched across seven sustainably-managed vineyards, three of which are organically farmed, with all of them sited in the renowned Martinborough Terrace area. The soils there consist of stony silt loams overlaying free-draining river gravels. The vineyards enjoy diverse soil profiles and microclimates, delivering a variety of distinctive options to the winemaking team led by chief viticulturist and winemaker Guy McMaster.

Palliser currently produces two ranges. The Palliser Estate wines are crafted from the pick of the crop and display elegant, pure fruit characters reflecting a true sense of place, while those under the Pencarrow label are vibrant, fruit-forward, approachable styles. On the horizon and coming your way is a new limited selection of single vineyard wines.

Guy McMasters

Guy has been knocking around the wine industry for 15 years and in that time he has worked, well, just about everywhere. After studying Viticulture and Oneologly at Lincoln University he did vineyard and winery work in Central Otago, America and then joined Escarpment as their Assistant Winemaker. They quickly saw his potential and he moved into a vineyard management role as well. He then moved to Urlar as their Winemaker/Viticulturist and, finally, at the beginning of 2016 Palliser nabbed him to work for them.