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Cover story – Astrolabe
Double celebration celebration at Astrolabe at Astrolabe
Astrolabe has a two-fold reason for celebration in 2022: the milestone of its 25th vintage and the success of its new Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé…
ASTROLABE HAS just completed its 25th harvest in Marlborough, marking a quarter century for the family-owned winery.
It’s no small feat in New Zealand’s relatively young wine industry, and is testament to the skill of Simon Waghorn, who founded Astrolabe in 1997 with wife Jane Forrest-Waghorn.
Simon Waghorn says the winery was originally a bit of a “side hustle”. “It was a fun thing to do at the time, and I didn’t have long-term plans. Now we have a diverse offering of varieties we make and a wide range of customers all around the world. We are still making wine from Astrolabe Farm, but we have cast a broader net across Marlborough, looking for exciting growing areas and expanding my options for blending complexity.”
In that time, Astrolabe has become known for its exceptional Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, as well as more boutique varietals. The couple were joined in the business by daughters Arabella and Libby after Astrolabe became entirely family-owned in 2018.
Simon Waghorn says they’re grateful to have a business that has been going for so long and survived so well through such a changing environment. “We’re proud to have been part of the exciting transformation of the Marlborough landscape… [and] proud to still be true to what we have been all along, which is a winemaker-directed and -run winery.”
He says there are several highlights for him from the last quarter century of Astrolabe.
“Seeing the first properly labelled Astrolabe bottle back in 1997... then 2004 was the year our Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was put on the map internationally, taking out four trophies, including our first international one, which really marked the start of our wine going global.”
Waghorn says the first time he walked into a restaurant overseas and saw people drinking his wine remains a strong memory too. “That’s a big highlight for any winemaker – to know you have sent a nicely packaged, beautifully made product to the other side of the world, and people are enjoying it.” 2022 is also a landmark year for Astrolabe in that it will see the release
of the first BioGro-certified wines from the Waghorns’ home vineyard, which they converted to organics in 2012, including the new Astrolabe Farm Chardonnay 2021.
“This will be the 25th release of an Astrolabe Chardonnay from our foundation vineyard,” explains Simon Waghorn. “We are currently in a Chardonnay renaissance, where high quality Chardonnay from New Zealand is being recognised, but the first Astrolabe Chardonnay was made in the days of ‘ABC’ [Anything But Chardonnay].”
New Rosé shows strong growth
Meanwhile, one of Astrolabe’s newest wines is establishing itself as a ‘must-have’ on retail shelves and wine lists around the country.
Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé is the second Rosé in the Astrolabe portfolio, having joined the single vineyard Comelybank Pinot Rosé in late 2021. It was created to help Astrolabe keep up with demand for its Rosé as the category continues to experience huge growth in New Zealand.
“We were really excited to launch this wine just before Christmas, and we have been thrilled with the response from critics,” says Libby Waghorn Levett, general manager at Astrolabe. “It’s now competing with our Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as my favourite wine to drink.”
Writing in his New Zealand Wines: Buyer’s Guide 2022, Michael Cooper awarded the Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé 2021 vintage 4.5 stars (“Excellent”) and said: “Already delicious… Pale pink, it is mouthfilling, with vibrant strawberry, peach and spice flavours, showing excellent delicacy and depth, and a smooth, fully dry finish.”
Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé is a regional blend, mostly from the Awatere Valley, with 50/50 Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Winemaker Simon Waghorn says he loves this combination and believes it’s an ideal Marlborough Rosé style. “Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris have a natural affinity with one another. You get perfect colour and just the right balance of lifted aromatics and background weight from the Pinot Noir.”
The new Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé has quickly built a strong following and now sits alongside the well-known Astrolabe Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as a trade staple.
In a category where so many wines are bought on looks alone, both Rosé offerings from Astrolabe have been designed to add beauty to any occasion. They are both presented in shapely bottles modelled after those of Provence, while evocative floral labels on each wine hint at their aromatic profiles. Astrolabe also helpfully includes sweetness indicators on the wines’ back labels, with both being completely dry.
A focus on vintage 2022
For now, the focus is on this year’s vintage, including meeting growing demand for the Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé.
Simon Waghorn says while COVID has impacted the harvest in terms of labour, he is optimistic that the crop looks bigger than normal. “That will be varied in terms of subregions and vineyards. Pinot Noir looks to be the trickiest variety to deal with this year. I am excited about the Chardonnay and some of the Pinot Gris and I think it will be a very flavoursome Sauvignon Blanc year.”
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The Waghorn family at Astrolabe: Arabella Waghorn, Simon Waghorn, Jane Forrest-Waghorn and Libby Waghorn Levett with Bob the dog.
Astrolabe Marlborough Rosé
RRP $27.99
Astrolabe Comelybank Pinot Rosé
RRP $31.99
Made for food
Rosé is a wine that is very easily matched to a lot of drinking occasions. Simon Waghorn has always crafted his Rosé with drinkability and food pairing in mind and says that this goes a long way to explaining its popularity. “My aim with Rosé is to make a dry, attractive, full-bodied food wine with a pretty colour and interesting texture. I’m looking for a bone-dry style with a savoury, mineral finish,” he says.
