Our story - so far

In the chronicles of New Zealand history, 1987 is up there. There was a large earthquake in Edgecumbe, we won the first Rugby World Cup, had the odd General Election, saw Māori made (not before time) an official language and watched the sharemarket crash. Peeking out from under the covers was something even more significant; Herons Flight planted its first vines.

Heron’s Flight was established by David Hoskins and Mary Evans. It was a happy accident. They had just got together and enjoyed wandering the countryside and vineyards of West Auckland. They noticed that the best conversations, the most pleasurable times, came over drinking wine. And they wanted to capture that. So Heron’s Flight was born. No grand plan, no desire for world domination, just the desire to take the existential essence of the grape and turn it into pleasure.

In keeping with the winemaking wisdom of the time, they planted French varietals - the Bordeaux blends - and promptly won a Gold Medal with their first Cabernet Sauvignon.

But, in keeping with the Hoskins and Evans wisdom of the time, they promptly tore out the French varietals. This was not the wine they wanted to make. No, the wine they wanted to make was from a recent discovery they had made; Italian grapes - Sangiovese and Dolcetto.

And that is what they have made for the past 35 years. Wines that capture the essence and romance and simplicity and pleasure of Italian life and the Italian table.

In Matakana, New Zealand.

How we found our name

When you plant grape vines, you put the posts in first. Which is exactly what David and Mary did.

At the end of the nascent vineyard there is a stream and one day they came out to find that, from the stream, on the posts, were perched a legginess of herons. Names don’t come easier than that.

And the Heron’s remain here to this day.