Tironui Estate wine in Malta

Tironui Estate wine from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, is a relatively new wine to be launched in Malta. Its owners, Richard and Jennifer Brown, are currently living in Malta with their family after a long and extensive career in banking.

Hawkes Bay is New Zealand’s leading producer of red wines and the second largest wine region in the country. Currently, two wine varieties are produced by Tironui – a blended red of Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2012 Rosé, blended from Malbec and Merlot grapes.

The story goes back to 1998 when Richard and Jennifer got married in Hawkes Bay at the Mission Estate Winery, the oldest winery and producer in New Zealand, established by a French priest with the aim of supplying wine for Mass and table wine to early Marist missionaries.

A couple of years later, a unique opportunity arose for the Browns to purchase land directly above Mission Estate. Because of its rather unique hillside position and soil, it lent itself well to growing red grapes. Young vines were purchased from Villa Maria Estate, with the first very limited vintage produced in 2005.

Grapes grown on the Browns’ estate are handpicked. The vineyard is small, adding to the uniqueness of the wine, with no more than 4,000 bottles produced annually.

Tironui Estate is imported by P. Cutajar and is available at The Store in San Ġwann.