YEALANDS ESTATE

Our Seaview Vineyard is located in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough at the north-eastern tip of New Zealand's South Island. Stretching from the foothills of the Kaikoura Ranges to undulating downs overlooking Cook Strait, Seaview Vineyard is the single largest privately owned vineyard in the New Zealand. The Yealands Estate Winery was created to operate sustainably at every level. Opened August 2008, the winery was built under the draft Green Building Code and was the first winery in the world to be accredited CarboNZero certified organisation from inception. Aesthetically, the building is designed to blend into the landscape with no disruptive contours. Rainfall from the roof of the winery is collected in swale drains on either side of the building, and either recycled or piped out to our wetlands. Functionally it operates as possibly one of the most innovative, sustainable wineries anywhere in the world.

Natalie Christensen

Natalie joined the Yealands winemaking team after completing the 2014 and 2015 vintages with us as a Vintage Winemaker. She started her career with Saint Clair Family Estate in 2006, where she became Assistant Winemaker and gained a good grounding in the Marlborough industry. Natalie then took on a Winemaker role at Matahiwi Estate in the Wairarapa. From there she went to Spain, working for Jorge Ordonez Group on their Albarino project in Rias Baixas North West Spain and their Muscadel project down in Malaga. Natalie has also experienced harvests in Bordeaux and Oregon. Natalie has a Master of Science (first class honours) and Bachelor of Music from Canterbury University, along with a Graduate Diploma in Oenology from the Eastern Institute of Technology in the Hawke’s Bay, where she graduated top in her year. Natalie loves cooking, travelling, playing her double bass and cryptic crosswords.