WineNZ Summer 2019-20

Wine & Time
Left to right: Timothy Evill of Lawson’s Dry Hills, Paul Donaldson of Pegasus Bay, Annie Millton of Millton Vineyards,
Stephan Walliser of Fromm Winery, Karen Fistonich of Villa Maria, Judy Finn of Neudorf Vineyards, Clive Weston of
Nautilus Estate, Aaron Drummond of Craggy Range, Pip Goodwin of Palliser Estate, Blair Walter of Felton Road,
Helen Masters of Ata Rangi and Paul Brajkovich of Kumeu River.
Family Event
New Zealand’s Family of Twelve are
thrilled to announce that our third
annual Wine Tutorial will take place
2nd – 4th August 2020 among the
vines in Marlborough, home to
four Family wineries. This unique
event represents an extraordinary
opportunity for just twelve wine
professionals globally.
Mills Reef announces move
to new winery site
Mills Reef Winery is pleased
to announce that its winery’s
operations are to be relocated
from their current Bethlehem site
in Tauranga, to the Leveret Estate,
formerly Morton Estate, sited
on State Highway 2 about five
kilometres south of Katikati.
Says Mills Reef director Tim
Preston, “we explored many site
options, but the opportunity to
team up with Leveret and create
a Bay Of Plenty ‘wine destination
hub’ certainly stood out as the
preferred option”.
The Mills Reef brand will
continue to source its grapes from
the Hawkes Bay region, with the
winemaking from 2020 season
onward being completed at the
Katikati site.
“We have a lot of loyal followers
here in Tauranga, so it’s great
to be able to stay in the Bay Of
Plenty. The move will also give us
access to some new vineyards
and we look forward to exploring
those options”, says Tim.
The current Mills Reef winery
restaurant will remain open
in Bethlehem until Saturday
December 14th and the tasting
room until Sunday December
22nd. Thereafter the tasting room
will be moved to the new Katikati
site where wine lovers will be
able to continue discovering and
enjoying the Mills Reef wines on
offer.
The present Bethlehem site is
already in the initial stages of
redevelopment into a lifestyle
retirement village. The landmark
art-deco winery building will
be retained and extended to
eventually become a communal
centre for the village. Says Tim
“it’s great that the winery’s history
on this site is being preserved
through retention of the building,
whilst naming of the village and its
streets also pays homage to that
history”.
Tim further acknowledges
that over the 25 years Mills Reef
has been on its Bethlehem site,
there have been many special
occasions including weddings
and celebrations. He says “it’s
great that the main building will
remain to retain those memories.”
As for the winery’s new Katikati
location, Tim says “we look
forward to partnering with Leveret
Estate to offer wine lovers a new
and exciting wine destination
experience for the Bay”.
Likewise, Director of Leveret
Estate Wines, Fiona MacDiarmid,
says “we’ve had a long
association with Mills Reef, and
this move to begin sharing our
winemaking facilities and cellar
door is an exciting development.”
24 WineNZ Magazine | Summer 2019/2020