INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY: Redmetal Vineyard, Good Times in the Vines

“They're about 26 years old and are looking pretty gnarly” says Grant Edmonds of Redmetal Vineyard, walking toward me. “I took to them with the chainsaw, but they’ve just taken off again” he laughs. “They’re amazing. You just can’t kill those old ones”. He’s not talking about grapevines though. Rather he’s clocked me gazing at the grove of old olive trees behind his tiny winery in Bridge Pa, about 10mins west of Hastings. “The plan is to lop the tops off a few trees each year to let a bit more light in to help with fruiting. All we do is wait until they ripen then we pickle the olives for ourselves” he says. “It’s easy as. You just throw them into a drum with some salty water, wait for a few weeks, remove them, rinse them, pop them in jars with olive oil and you’re away. It’s dead easy”.

Grant’s 35 year-plus career had him making wine at Esk Valley, Villa Maria, Chateau Pavie in St Emilion and Sileni Estates and during those years he developed a love for great Merlot-based reds and a desire to grow his own. So back in 1991, with wife Sue, and partners Gary and Diane Simpson, Grant asked a Maraekakaho Road sheep farmer, if he’d carve off 8ha so they could have a crack at growing grapes. The iron-rich, ‘red’ gravel soils, laid down by ancient Ngaruroro river flows, would be split into twelve plots differentiated by grape variety and irrigation regime. Today they grow Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Albariño and it’s beautifully managed and manicured, which is no accident. “It’s a small enough property to keep pretty tidy” Grant shrugs, “you’ll whizz around it with the mower in no time. So it’s a great spot for a young family or a retirement project because it's manageable and you’ve got total control. We can harvest the grapes and they’re inside the winery within half an hour. There’s no waiting around for anything”. Sue chips in, “And if Grant decides he wants to get up and do some early morning tasks all he does is roll out of bed and hop on the tractor. There’s no driving for miles to get to work”. 

And it was the perfect place for their young family. “They were with Grant all the time” Sue adds, “learning about the weather, engineering, mechanics, winemaking ...” Grant interrupts “Kids are such great problem-solvers. We used to have a small press which only just fitted into the winery. To empty it, we’d have to roll it over and tip it onto the floor then shovel the grape waste into the trailer to take away. And our daughter, who was maybe six, watched us a few times and said, "Dad, why don't you just back the trailer underneath the press?" And it was like, how did I not see that? It’s the most obvious thing in the world.”  

Grant ushers me past the barrel room he and his son built and into the sun-soaked, living and kitchen space while Sue throws the kettle on. It’s hard to believe looking out at those brightly budding green vines, that Hawke’s Bay has its fair share of tricky weather. Yet, established hedges and fans shield the Redmetal vines from frost. “We're quite lucky because from our bed upstairs we can see all the frost lights” says Sue. “So Grant doesn't actually have to get out of bed. The frost fans are all programmed at a set temperature and they kick into gear”.

And even in wet seasons, Bridge Pa’s free-draining soils divert water away from the plants. “Our 2023 wines came out really well even despite Cyclone Gabrielle, and our Albariño is bulletproof in wet weather” Grant grins. The Redmetal Albariño has become a local legend. Pioneering grape grower Gary Glazebrook researched it and suggested Albariño would be perfectly suited to Bridge Pa. “Gary used to tootle into Sileni occasionally to have a yak, and asked if I’d ever thought about growing it? I said I don’t even know what Albariño is!” Grant laughs.  “It’s the signature white wine of Spain and it’s awesome with seafood, so we took a punt on it and it does incredibly well for us”.

While Grant and Sue confess to being “little hermits”, the Bridge Pa community is a social one. “One of our favourite things is the Bridge Pa Triangle Wine Festival” Sue urges. Now in its 11^th year and kicking off on in mid-January, it’s one of the most popular wine festivals in the country, attracting around 2500 vino-fans who’d much rather sip wine, savour food and boogie amongst the vines than get rinsed in the clubs. “It’s a very surreal day when you see 200 people dancing on your front lawn and drinking your wine” adds Grant, “it’s very cool actually. But my god it can be a bit tricky getting them to leave!” he laughs.

Now that their family has grown and grandchildren are appearing, it’s time for Grant and Sue to explore new challenges. “I do love to get out and do a bit of orienteering” shrugs Grant. “Running around with a compass is a bit of fun”. But one thing’s guaranteed, all roads point to fun for whomever takes over this Hawke’s Bay legacy vineyard.