Our Story

Family

Brent and Shirley Rawstron are based in Canterbury, New Zealand. They live on the family estate, which boasts not only the beautiful home block vineyard, but the farm, office, Cellar Door and 'Rossendale Events', a wedding and events centre.
They have a passion for wine, with both Brent and Shirley graduating from Lincoln University with Post Graduate Diplomas in Horticultural Science in 1993.

Their love of wine, planting of their home block vineyard and further education, moved Shirley away from her medical General Practice, to working full time in the winery with Brent.

Both are very busy people, but always have time to chat, engage and enjoy peoples company.
Their love of the land is also evident on the property, with livestock on the farm and beautiful gardens surrounding the office and home block.

Vineyard

In 1987 Brent and Shirley planted three hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on the banks of the Halswell River in Canterbury, New Zealand. The Chardonnay was later replaced with Pinot Noir. Further plantings on north-facing slopes have increased the total vineyard area to six hectares. The new plantings include a small area of Gewurztraminer. This is the current home block.

In 1992, the winery was constructed in Canterbury. Grant Whelan, a Lincoln graduate, was Rossendale’s winemaker from 1993 to 2002.

Growing larger, Rossendale based its winemaking in Blenheim, which is where the wines are produced today.
The 'Brothers' Vineyard in Marlborough was purchased in 2004 by the Rawstron family, and now supplies Rossendale with the fantastic Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.

 

Conservation

Rossendale strives to protect and promote the wildlife around its Christchurch vineyard. Awareness of the impact on the land, is placed on the distributors and associated suppliers. 
Regeneration and conservation of the land, for future generations is important to Rossendale. Plantings in surrounding areas is vast, to help conserve and protect the environment.  

Sustainability

Rossendale is committed to sustainability through the Sustainable Winegrowing NZ (SWNZ) program. Both the Canterbury and Marlborough sites are certified.
Inputs and outputs are reviewed, and effects these have on the environment are considered. The environmental program is managed to guarantee sustainability from the vineyard supply, to the Marlborough winery, through to the bottle.

 

The office site is audited annually to ensure we continue to operate in a sustainable manner. The SWNZ  program monitors and aims to continually improve on our impact to our environment.

We are committed to protecting our environment by being aware of the use of chemicals, energy, water and packaging, and wherever possible, reusing and recycling materials and waste.

For more information: www.nzwine.com/sustainability