JUNCTION WINES

Junction Wines is proudly owned by former All Black front row forward John Ashworth and family. The Vineyard and Cellar Door are located at the junction of State Highway 2 and 50 on the windswept stony gravels of the Takapau Plains in Central Hawkes Bay. Junction Wines the won the 2014 A & P Hawkes Bay Cellar Door of the year award.This small, boutique vineyard enjoys the long hot days and cool nights over the Central Hawkes Bay growing season, allowing son and winemaker Leith to produce award-winning, intense, aromatic wines. Visitors are welcomed at the Cellar Door with plenty of down to earth kiwi hospitality and good wine. Picnics on the lawn and meeting the farm animals are encouraged in the relaxing, family friendly atmosphere. The Cellar Door is open most afternoons or by appointment and hosts small tastings through to large groups in the garden, the rugby room or the rustic, all weather tasting room. John's passion for wine was born during an All Black tour to France. A highlight of a visit to the Cellar Door is the rugby memorabilia room packed with All Black and international rugby treasures from the Invincibles era to the present team.

Leith Ashworth

Growing up on the land in a Hawkes Bay farming and grape growing family Leith’s always had a passion for what the land could produce. He studied Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University graduating in 2004. He’s worked at several Hawkes Bay wineries and along the way indulged in travelling, playing rugby and also making wine in France and the USA. In recent years Leith’s Winemaker for the Wine Portfolio and Junction Wines. Working closely with the grapes on the Takapau plains through to the bottle Leith’s enjoying the quest with his father to produce the perfect Pinot Noir.