Prominently located alongside the Hawke’s Bay expressway and with a vineyard to be established alongside, the winery will have a glazed façade to allow views through, into and out of the building.
Australian-based architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp say “the parts of the winery will be clearly apparent to visitors and celebrate the whole winemaking process of growing, harvesting, pressing, aging, decanting and consumption.”
Currently under construction, the winery, with a floor area of up to 18,980sq m, is being future proofed to handle up to 20,000 tonnes of grapes a year. As a yardstick of its capacity, Hawke’s Bay’s total production in 2014 was 44,502 tonnes.
Delegat’s, which has a 14 percent share by volume of New Zealand wine exports, says the Hawke’s Bay climate and soils have unique qualities which make them ideal for producing world-class cool climate wines. It regards Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris as the region’s leading varietals.
The company’s extensive Hawke’s Bay plantings include sites on the Heretaunga Plains, Gimblett Gravels and the Crownthorpe subregion. The 500 hectares of plantings represent around 10 percent of the region’s vineyard area, making Delegat’s one of Hawke’s Bay’s largest producers.
The new winery, under construction on the south-eastern corner of a 13.42ha
site on the corner of the expressway and Everden Road, is to be a dedicated Delegat’s facility and won’t be undertaking contract winemaking. The proposed operational date is
early 2015, ready for that year’s harvest.
To be “a landmark within the Hawke’s Bay landscape”, the complex will include a grape receival area, wine processing and cellaring areas, laboratory, staff facilities, administration offices and reception and a cellar door which will be open seven days a week year round.
“As the expressway is an important public face to the development, it is proposed to have glazing along this building frontage, with wine vines in the foreground, allowing views through to the activity and function of the building.”
Delegat’s say the development, with its focus on the winemaking experience and close proximity to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park and Hastings’ network of cycling and walking pathways, will add to the tourism experience offered by the region.
In three lots, the flat site was formerly used for agriculture, including for cropping and lamb fattening and more recently an apple orchard. The vineyard, to cover about half the site, is likely to be planted in Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.
The development has required a restricted discretionary consent as the gross floor area exceeds the permitted threshold limit for a winery building in the Hastings District Council’s Plains zone.
Delegat’s plans to employ a maximum of 27 permanent staff in the winery and two permanent cellar door staff, expanding that to include 62 seasonal workers during the six weeks of harvest.
“We are positioned to continue to grow our production substantially in the Hawke’s Bay region and our intention (is) to increase our vineyard plantings in the region.”
“To meet our growth plans for the region we require a state of the art winery and cellar door. This winery development will need to showcase the integral relationship between the land and the planting, picking and processing of grapes into wine, which we consider is one of the essential principles of our winemaking story.
“The winery and cellar door, in the surrounds of the vineyard, will provide an opportunity for wine tasting and education on the vinification and viticulture education from Hawke’s Bay as one of the world’s great New World wine regions.” ν
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