We are so delighted to have been able to help the Seifried family to share their story on Seven Sharp this month. This wonderful Nelson-based family business has been going strong for nearly 50 years, and many of you will be familiar with their multi-award-winning wines.
Seifried Estate was established by Austrian-born Hermann Seifried and Kiwi wife Agnes when they planted their first vineyard in the Moutere Valley, near Nelson, in 1973, establishing themselves as pioneers of modern winegrowing in New Zealand’s South Island.
Today, Hermann and Agnes still oversee the business, which has grown to include the whole family – son Chris and daughter Heidi as hands-on qualified winemakers, and daughter Anna overseeing sales and marketing. Pictured above left to right: Hermann, Agnes, Anna, Chris and Heidi Seifried.
Seifried Estate has more than 320 hectares of estate-grown vineyards across 10 properties in the Nelson region, and its wines are marketed in 26 countries around the world. 60% of Seifried Estate’s wine production and export is Sauvignon Blanc.
The Seifried family acknowledge the Nelson climate and sunshine hours as a key component of their success, making the point that Nelson’s truly punches above its weight as a producer of award-winning wines, in terms of the relative volume of wine it produces. Globally, 17% of Sauvignon Blanc originates from New Zealand, despite the fact that New Zealand only produces 1% of the world’s wine.
This year Seifried has earned extraordinary accolades for its 2020 Sauvignon Blanc. The Royal Easter Show Wine Awards awarded Gold medals to more than 15 NZ Sav Blancs and Seifried 2020 Sauvignon Blanc has been chosen from that group as overall national Champion Sauvignon Blanc 2021. The Royal Easter Show Wine Awards is New Zealand’s oldest national wine competition – established in 1953, the awards has been running for nearly 70 years!
This newest accolade from the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards adds to the impressive medal tally for Seifried Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2020, which has already been awarded ‘Best of Show New Zealand’ at the Mundus Vini Tasting in Germany 2020, Gold in the AWC Vienna 2020 International Wine Challenge, Gold in the Melbourne International Wine Competition 2020, and was rated 95/100 by Oz Clarke of Three Wine Men in the UK – his highest scoring wine of the New Zealand tasting!
Seifried Estate is a wonderful example of the power of a vision combined with the tenacity and commitment to see it through to completion, in their case across nearly five decades and two generations.
Click the link here to watch the Seven Sharp piece.
