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Babich Wines produces its many styles and ranges in two locations: at the Babich Winery Henderson, Auckland, and in Marlborough at the Rapaura Vintners facility which Babich co-owns with two other leading wine companies.
The Henderson winery, set alongside the vineyard that was the foundation stone for the company’s success, has evolved steadily over the years.
Always at the cutting edge of production techniques, it has grown under Joe Babich’s direction into an efficiently integrated production facility capable of handling a variety of styles with little superfluity of space.
Stainless steel fermentation tanks and refrigeration are used for the aromatic varieties, helping the development and retention of the wines’ fresh varietal characters. For other wines there is the more traditional approach of barrel ageing, while a proportion of the premium Irongate Cabernet Merlot is fermented in traditional open-topped tanks to aid tannin extraction.
Babich Wines uses oak influence and malolactic fermentation as a means of adding complexity rather than providing a dominant flavour. Babich has been one of New Zealand’s leaders in promoting a winemaking approach where natural fruit flavours are firmly to the fore.
The Rapaura Vintners facility also reflects the company’s winemaking policy, with each of the stakeholders able to utilize the winery in a way best suited to its philosophy.
Established in the mid-1990s, Rapaura Vintners was completely re-developed in 2003 on a new Jacksons Road site, right in the heart of Marlborough’s prime Rapaura wine district. After fermentation the wines are transported to the Henderson winery for completion and bottling.
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