Welcome to Wairiki

Our journey has been a long one. But we believe good things are worth taking time over. That’s just one of the reasons why Wairiki wine has been over 30 years in the making.

Wairiki was founded by Brent Linn in 2008 but his passion for wine began long before that. Brent’s interest was sparked when working in banking, helping winemakers find the funding to plant their vines into the soil and establish their labels.

From there his curiosity about the industry grew. He travelled extensively to explore and experience the best winemakers and most successful wine making regions across the world. It wasn’t long before Brent realised that his passion would soon lead him to own a vineyard of his own.

There was a long search for the land that would become the home of Wairiki wine. In 2008 a special place was found on the terraces high above the Ngaruroro river in the Maraekakaho area of Hawke’s Bay.

The winery was named ‘Wairiki’ because of the importance of this land. Wairiki means ‘little water’ in Te Reo Māori. We are Wairiki because our land is blessed with a small stream that runs through it in Winter.

In 2010, our family and friends worked together to plant out just under 2 hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. Our land is perfect for wine growing: the stony river terraces are free draining with a thin topsoil over a gravel base. The Hawke’s Bay climate brings hot days and cool nights that fill our grapes with flavour.

After supplying commercial wineries with our grapes for a number of years we grew restless, wanting to see the true potential of our land realized in our own wine label.

The first Wairiki vintage under our own label was released in 2018.