Black Ridge Winery
Black Ridge was established in 1981 by Sue Edwards and Verdun Burgess in Conroys Gully on the outskirts of Alexandra Township, Central Otago, New Zealand.
The Vineyard lies at the entrance to Conroys Gully in the foothills of the Old Man Range. Once a booming gold mining settlement, Conroys supported a canvas town complete with grog shops, as well as a cluster of stone huts along the sides of Conroys Creek. The Creek that once supplied was to gold mines, now tumbles down between cliffs of schist rock to irrigate the orchards and vineyards below.
Like Conroys, Black Ridge is a wild and rocky place with schist rock outcrops dominating the vineyard. Bulldozers have had to shape and mould the rock to allow pockets of grapes to be planted. There are now 19 acres of grapes established in blocks around the hillside, with a further 2 acres to be developed. Where grapes cannot be planted the rocks are left to the wild thyme and the rabbits.
This is a land of harsh and dramatic contrasts. The north facing slopes of the vineyard are baked by extremes of heat in summer and frozen by frosts in winter. From the vineyard, you see mountain ranges that can be snow caped even in mid summer. The warm Nor-westers that flow over the mountains make our district one of the driest places in New Zealand.
Soils have been formed from crushed schist rock, giving a hint of minerally flavours to the wines, particularly Riesling. Irrigation is used throughout the growing season to off set the hot, dry climate and the free draining nature of the soils.
At harvest the grapes are handpicked and the wine made exclusively from grapes grown in the Black Ridge Vineyard. The first wines produced in 1988 were Riesling and Gewurztraminer. In more recent years Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir have also been produced. Recognition of our wine quality has come in the form of Wine Show Medals, particularly for Pinot Noir which won Gold medals in 1997 and 1998.
Contact
Phone: +64 3 4492059
Fax: +64 3 4492597
Postal
Address: 		PO Box 54, Alexandra
Delivery
Address: 		Conroys Rd.
Staff
Owner: Verdun Burgess & Sue Edwards
Manager: Verdun Burgess & Sue Edwards
Sales: Maureen Howe
Marketing: Verdun Burgess & Sue Edwards
Producer Details
Opening Hours: Seven days 10am-5pm, nibbles available
Vineyards: 8
Winery Tours: No
Facilities: None
Newsletter: Yes -
Wineclub: No
Sales
Cellar Door: Yes
Internet: Yes
Direct Mail: Yes
Via Retailers: Yes
Wines from this Producer
Black Ridge Gewürztraminer Late Harvest | 2003
Black Ridge Pinot Noir | 2003 | 2002