When it comes to running a premium winery on a Hauraki Gulf island, Waiheke’s Bruce Aitken is assured his cup still overflows, but after some “tough” discussions, the family has decided to put it up for sale.
The Tantalus estate is located on a strip in the Onetangi Valley, known as the “miracle mile”, along with wineries such as Stonyridge, Te Motu and Shepherd Point.
Aitken acknowledged that viticulture was not for everyone, and running a winery with 70 to 100 staff could be “complex”, but he said it had been “incredibly satisfying”.
“In [winemaking], if you want to make a small fortune, you had better start with a large fortune. We have spent a lot of money on this property, but as a family we’ve gained a tremendous amount of joy.”
The rateable value is about $9 million, but the expectation is it will fetch a price in the tens of millions.
Aitken said that after sales “evaporated” during the Covid pandemic, things had picked up again with the business having seen its best quarter yet in November.
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Bruce Aitken said his family had made the tough decision to put Tantalus Estate on the market.
Listing agent Matthew Smith anticipates it will take a buyer with a bit of play money. They might see it as a commercial investment with an opportunity to build a bach on a hilltop overlooking the winery.
“A foreign investor with citizenship could arrive at the airport and fly in a helicopter straight to their holiday home in the vineyard.”
The namesake of the estate is the family’s collection of tantalus lock boxes, thought to be the largest in New Zealand.
“In the 19th and 20th centuries the [European] aristocracy would lock away their fine wines and liqueurs in a tantalus so that the servants couldn’t drink or water them down,” Aitken said.
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A tantalus box was historically used to hide one’s liquor from servants, Bruce Aitken said.
The family’s collection has all manner of boxes, from ones appearing like a Fabergé egg to an inconspicuous pile of books.
“I’ve always imagined some crusty old bugger telling his wife he’s going into the library to read and doesn’t want to be disturbed, and this is the first book he picks up.”
Tantalus was also a Greek mythological figure who was condemned by the gods to an eternity of thirst, with a drink always being just out of reach. His image is usually portrayed as reaching to the sky, Aitken explains.
Perhaps if poor Tantalus had access to a helicopter, he would have had more luck – on the day this reporter visited there were five helicopters touching down at the estate for Christmas parties, including the one we travelled on.
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A pilot for Helitranz said Waiheke was one of the most frequently visited destinations by its customers.
Production at the winery is highly weather-dependent. It made 15,000 bottles last year, but the year before 35,000 bottles. They have four main varietals of Bordeaux grapes.
However, since purchasing the estate in 2013, Aitken said he and his wife had spent the majority of their time planting and weeding a wetland, restoring it with around 7000 natives.
“It’s a lot easier to grow nikau than grapevines, you don’t need to spray them.”
