LOCAL NEWS
SOHO WINES! As simple as abc ‘awarded, boutique, creative’ Most people are familiar with SOHO WINES but we asked Rachael Carter to tell us a few things that make SOHO different to other New Zealand wine brands.
What are the key drivers behind your Pink Sheep collection? The name Pink Sheep, inspired by the late Alexander McQueen who ended his life, often referred to himself as the Pink Sheep in the family. We donate 50c a bottle to 4 charities that encompass mental health, children, animals & the environment. During lockdown, charities nationwide suffered great hardship and financial struggles. So, we decided to put extra focus on Pink Sheep by redesigning our label that would bring hope and love, using the lotus flower as our inspiration. To date, Pink Sheep has raised over $60,000 for its selected charities and we aim to continue to raise as much as we possibly can. The whole range is proudly supported by our friends at Farro Fresh.
FAMILY OWNED VINEYARDS We are boutique, we like to keep things small (100% quality focused), we not only utilise my late father’s vineyards in Marlborough and Waiheke but we have several other small family owned vineyards that grow for us (as they say a great wine is made in the vineyard). 3 OUTSTANDING WINEMAKERS Grant Taylor (creator of our Central Otago wines), David Clouston (creator of our Marlborough wines) and James Rowan (creator of our Waiheke Wines). They are specialists in their realms giving each wine it’s own distinctive style & personality. 73 gold medals & multiple trophies to date says a lot about our winemaking team. NON-TRADITIONAL BRAND NAME The name SOHO is a little left field, SOHO uniquely embodies a passion for life, culture & entertainment, we have crafted a brand reflective of our life & the amazing people and pets we share it with (hence why each of our wines have a name & back story). 3 COLLECTIONS OF WINE Our portfolio of wines is mostly made up of our premium black collection (predominantly sold to restaurants local and abroad), on a smaller scale is our white collection (retail focused wine), even though the price point is cheaper we still get 5 star accolades and win golds! Our latest is the Pink Sheep Charity Collection, I created this with new vineyards to make a difference to those in need.
The range includes a low sugar French inspired Rosé, organic Sauv Blanc, organic Pinot Gris (double gold medals) and a stunning Pinot Noir (gold medal). All wines have been reviewed 5 stars. Aside from Pink Sheep what is the thing you are most proud of at SOHO? My team! I call them the SOHOts. We do all our own distribution so don’t have a distributor that sells our wines, we are direct to customer, we do our own dispatch and I can proudly say we are a small but highly passionate group that have stuck together for a very long time – a combo of cousins, old friends, previous clients & new friends. My landlord (our office is above NOVEL in Herne Bay) always comments on the camaraderie and cheer that comes from the SOHO office. Amber Hatton is our national & export sales manager & a shareholder, she has been with me since the beginning and is soon to head off on maternity leave so my challenge this year has been to find someone to fill her boots. Fortuitously Hugo McCallum (ex Tohu wines) has just started with us. We are a team of 10, dedicated to making the best wines we possibly can and bringing them to market with a stylish, contemporary and little risqué approach.
Rachael Carter
Amber Hatton
Elinor Mudu
Shenée McLean
Jo Cumberland
Hugo McCallum
Jack Faga-Makin
Carolina Vujcich
Gary Keller
Peter Millington
30 PONSONBY NEWS+ December 2020
PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)
