Astrolabe

When winemaker Simon Waghorn created his own brand, he chose the name Astrolabe because of historic ties with Marlborough and connotations of exploration and discovery.  An astrolabe is an ancient instrument of navigation that measures the altitude of the stars, and also the name of an early sailing ship exploring the Marlborough coast.

All Simon’s skill and experience combine to capture the essence of Marlborough in wines of purity, focus and elegance. Simon is fascinated by the unique qualities of the Awatere Valley and Kekerengu Coast sub-regions, whether bottled alone, or blended as part of the Marlborough classic.

Astrolabe name changes...

Some of you may have noticed our Astrolabe ranges have been rebranded for the 2011 release. As we hold back some releases to suit the development of the wine, we will find some wines from the same range with different range names, but this is not overtly obvious. The words for our ranges have come to a point where we feel that they do not necessarily represent the principle of what is in the bottle and what we are trying to produce; each of the range names are more specific to what the blend represents. The changes are as follows:

Voyage has become "Province"
Discovery has become "Valleys"
Experience has become "Vineyards"

The Province is a provincial blend - a blend of all our sites across the Marlborough region.

The Valleys range is a show case of the sub-regions of the Marlborough province - highlighting the contributing valleys to the province, but also a chance for winemaker Simon Waghorn to showcase the unique styles coming from these valleys: namely the Awatere, the Wairau and the Kekerengu.

The last range is the Vineyards range - a small production of a handful of wines of a single vineyard nature. We have a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chenin Blanc, a Pinot Gris and a Riesling. This is a winemaker driven range, and allows the winemaking team to really express their interpretation of the vineyard and vintage.


View Astrolabe map in a larger map

Where our Grapes Grow.

Astrolabe Wines was established by a group of friends in 1996, effectively to become Simon Waghorn's own label. We produce a range of wines that express the purity and intensity of fruit flavours naturally afforded by the climate and soils of the Marlborough region in New Zealand. All grapes are sourced entirely from unique Marlborough sites, carefully chosen to add complexity and completeness in the wines.