ZARIA - Chardonnay Hawke's Bay 2022

About ZARIA

As with all great boutique producers, ZARIA has an inspiring story. To honour the dream of Bryce Edmonds (winemaker) late mother Lesley, Bryce’s father purchased a block of land in the Bridge Pa Triangle subregion in Hawke’s Bay. Bryce, with his two brothers and Father, planted Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Sémillon. This is how Lesley’s Vineyard, the enduring heart and soul of ZARIA, was born.

Bryce’s ZARIA story started in 2004 when he met a ‘Czech beauty’, the love of his life, Alena. The couple travelled the world, exploring many great wine regions including Austria, Spain, France, and New Zealand. After seven years of being together, Bryce “set out to craft a gift worthy of the woman of his dreams”.

The gift? A ZARIA Rosé, named after the Slavic Goddess of Beauty in a nod to Alena’s heritage. Bryce reckons the gift must have worked its magic as a few weeks later Alena said yes when Bryce proposed at Napier’s acclaimed Pacifica Restaurant (which by the way, now pours ZARIA wines). They were married at the Valtice Castle in the Czech Republic and honeymooned amongst the wineries of Portugal. The couple now raises their two daughters, Jasmine and Natalie, in Hawke’s Bay.

Today, ZARIA has built a reputation for elegant, graceful wines with focus. Their grapes are lovingly hand tended and come from Lesley’s Vineyard. Bryce practices minimal intervention in his wines and vineyard, “ultimately bringing to life creations worthy of the goddess they honour and the woman they’re an ode to”

First Vintage: 2015

Scale: Under 1000 cases

Range: Merlot, Chardonnay, Rosé

Cellar Door: Not yet!

Look out for… The Zaria 2021 Chardonnay, the very first Chardonnay grown at Lesley’s vineyard.