About Us

Getting to Cable Bay Contact Us Our People Join Mailing List Accommodation

At Cable Bay Vineyards we dare to be different. This attribute is expressed in many ways, ranging from our unique winegrowing relationship with our local Waiheke Island community - to our minute attention to detail when growing and making wine. The company has been developed by a small group of wine lovers who are passionate about New Zealand and its wines. Our goal is to produce a select range of high quality wines from grapes grown on Waiheke Island and in Marlborough: Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.

In 2004, after careful analysis, we removed vines from some of our Waiheke Island sites and re-planted them with Pinot Gris, Viognier and Syrah. We believe these sites are ideally suited to these varietals, and the first two vintages are showing tremendous promise.

A combination of outstanding vineyard sites in two of New Zealand’s best wine producing areas, careful viticultural management in an environmentally sustainable manner and expert wine making help Cable Bay Vineyards achieve our goal of crafting exquisite wines that are known for their subtlety, elegance and depth.

Cable Bay Vineyards could best be described as an innovative traditionalist. We use traditional winemaking and viticultural techniques in order to ensure our wines best express the unique attributes of their individual vineyard sites. Yet our ‘community approach’ to our vineyard holdings is unique in New Zealand.

MILESTONES

2009 2008 1996:	Cable Bay listed in the Metro Top 50 Restaurants in Auckland, 2009 Cable Bay is selected as a finalist in the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards, 2008 Neill Culley forms Cable Bay Vineyards Limited.
1996-8:	Company structure developed, vineyard land sourced.
1998:	First grapes planted on Waiheke Island.
2002:	First vintages of Cable Bay Vineyards Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Five Hills.
2003: July	Cable Bay exported its first wines, sending a consignment of Waiheke Chardonnay and Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to New York.
2003: November	Cable Bay Vineyards wins Creative NZ Award for Bravery as a result of sponsoring the Sculpture on the Gulf exhibition held in February that year.
2004:	Cable Bay Vineyards’ Waiheke Island holdings gain Sustainable Winegrowing NZ accreditation.
2005:	September 2005 – Cable Bay Waiheke Chardonnay 2002 wins Gold Medal at the prestigious International Wine Challenge in London.
2006:	March 2006 construction begins on building our restaurant/winery on Waiheke Island
2007:	February 2007 the new Cable Bay winery/restaurant opens for business