The Vineyards
Our wines come from three distinct boutique vineyard sites, selected, designed and established by winegrower Luc in 2005-6.
The 3 Vineyard Site's History
Frenchman's Hill Estate wines come from three distinct custom built vineyard sites that were carefully selected and meticulously designed and built by winegrower Luc in 2005.
Each of these three sites were home to the original Māori inhabitants who arrived on Waiheke in the Te Arawa waka around 1350 AD. These coastal sites were chosen by Māori for their proximity to the food rich waters as well as their ideal position providing far and wide lookouts to detect danger of attack by approaching mainland tribes.
Brutal warfare often occurred on and around these sites, culminating in the 1821 massacre of the Ngāti Pāoa in and around the 8 vineyard site near the island's main Putiki O Kahu pa site, which is said to have turned the waters below the vineyard red with blood.
Luc's acknowledgement of the sacred nature of each site's history has bestowed a sense of guardianship and Kaitiakitanga or spiritual understanding upon him.
To this end his flagship Blood Creek 8 wine is named such, to honour and remember these bottles, bringing together those that perished here in an harmonious expression of aroha and togetherness ... all in a bottle of wine!
Rangatira Patuone
This chief inhabited the 8 Vineyard site 1835-55
The 8 Vineyard - 2 Hectares
Home to the Blood Creek 8 and Rock Earth Syrah wines. A medium/steep coastal slope perched directly above the luminous waters and radiant mud flats of the Putiki Estuary, right in the central heart of Waiheke. Gravelly/sandy clay soils containing ferrous oxide streaks. Pure viticultural gold. The heat builds the polyphenolic structure of the grapes whilst the high luminosity builds intense colour in the skins. The high-density vine plantings create intensive vine competition and hold heat into the slopes, creating a controlled vine stress environment ideal for producing rich, intense red wines for cellar aging
The Expatrius Vineyard - 1.1 Hectares
Home to Expatrius Syrah and the Adverus white blend. A coastal headland sited between Orapiu and Omaru Bays, that juts out into the Waiheke channel which flows along the island's south coast. Highly weathered and impoverished pink and blonde sandy clays that are gently tempered by cooling maritime breezes, surrounded by the glistening waters some 60 metres below. An often-harsh environment for this patchwork of 5 tiny vine parcels, conferring depth, intensity and richness to these remarkable and unique wines
The Herculean Vineyard - 1.8 Hectares
Home to the Herculean Syrah, situated on medium/steep slopes above the coastal cliffs of Waiheke's western coastline. Volcanic ash soil over sandy orange and pink clays. This parcel tilts toward the northwest, overlooking the glistening waters of the Hauraki Gulf. This maritime environment, coupled with a measured and rationalised approach of intensive manual, largely organic viticulture, results in a Syrah with richness, layered complexity and elegant aging potential.
