The harvesting season is due to begin at the vineyard this April. Photo / Supplied
The harvesting season is due to begin at the vineyard this April. Photo / Supplied
Inland Revenue has had liquidators appointed to a Central Otago vineyard business, just as the grape harvesting season is about to begin on the 22ha estate.
Malcolm Hollis of PwC in Christchurch said today his appointment followed a High Court application last week over IRD’s claim for unpaid taxes amountingto $102,000.
He is yet to produce his first report on Lindis River Wines, renowned for its fine Pinot Noir vintages.
The vineyard is near the Lindis River at 6 Thomson Gorge Rd, south of Wanaka and east of Lake Hayes.
Artisan Cellars described some of the vineyard’s vintages in the early 2000s as “remarkable quality ... the wines just keep getting better.” Its older wines were ageing gracefully, it said.
“An estate to watch. Sadly only a few hundred cases are produced each year.”
Hollis said the tax claim was for GST and PAYE but he is yet to fully investigate or be in a position to say much more until discussions are held with those involved.
SBS Bank also has security over the business, he said.
The Gazette recorded that on November 22, IRD made an application to the High Court at Christchurch to have liquidators appointed. That application was to be heard last Thursday and IRD succeeded.
The vineyard is south of Wanaka and east of Lake Hayes. Photo / Google Maps
Chantal Degril, a director of the company and 90 per cent shareholder, said today she knew nothing about the proceedings and was unaware of any liquidation.
“I had no idea. We have not been notified. How come we have not received anything? This is incredible,” she said.
However, she acknowledged that co-director Holger Bruno Reinecke was “more involved than me in this”.
Companies Office records show he owns the other 10 per cent of the company.
Reinecke was cited in Herald publicity in 2013 having joined a group of Central Otago artisan vintners: “By the end of the day the only [Artisan Wine] member I hadn’t encountered was Lindis River. As is so often the way with one-man bands, the owner of this pinot-focused producer, Holger Reinecke, had to attend to business outside the region the day of my vintage adventures,” wrote Jo Burzynska in Viva.
Lindis River Wines was incorporated in 2001 and the business says its vineyard is in the Ardgour Valley near Tarras, in the heart of Central Otago.
“What used to be part of a historic high country merino station was planted with Pinot Noir vines in the year 2000. The vineyard was the first to be established in the Tarras area. The Bendigo grape growing subregion is located nearby to the south. As with many mountainous wine-growing locations, the Ardgour Valley also has its own microclimate. Annual rainfall is at the lowest end of the scale for New Zealand, a true continental climate,” Lindis River says.
The sun soaks into the north-to-northwest oriented slopes that reach a 30-degree gradient in the steepest parts.
“While this provides optimal ripening conditions at the end of summer just before harvest, the hillside also ensures cold air drainage in the spring to avert frost damage to the budding vines,” it says.
The vineyard has been managed organically since 2005.
All vineyard work is done by hand including harvesting in April and 3.5ha of the 22ha property is planted in three different clones of own-rooted Pinot Noir vines.
“The topography of the land allowed us to divide this up into three smaller blocks, thereby again taking advantage of subtle microclimatic conditions. Planting density is high, up to four times higher than average for the region and New Zealand.
“Yet irrigation needs are low, which intensifies flavour development and aids mineral uptake from the ground through deep rooting”, the vineyard says.
Property records show Reinecke and Degril also own the Thomson Gorge Rd property. Southland Building Society has a mortgage over that title.
The Central Otago District Council lists the capital value as $1.4m of which $890,000 is the land. Rates are $2715/year.
It is now the liquidator’s job to find out what assets and liabilities Lindis River Wines has and attempt to repay its creditors. Inland Revenue and those with security over the business come first.
