Ashleigh Barrowman
Southern Valleys, Marlborough, New Zealand

Ashleigh Barrowman cut her teeth with some of our very favourite producers around the world before settling back down in her native New Zealand, having fallen in love with the Wrekin Vineyard, a biodynamically farmed oasis in the upper reaches of the Southern Valleys sub-region of Marlborough. 

Ash’s path to becoming a vigneron came via a route less travelled. She was working in online advertising and ended up getting a gig re-designing the website of Hans Herzog, an organic viticulture pioneer in NZ.  Fascinated by this rabbit hole she has stumbled upon, she allowed herself to tumble down, eventuating in Ash becoming the sales manager for the estate before getting involved in both the vineyard and cellar. 

From there she decided to go back to school and study viticulture and winemaking and build her life around wine. Around the same time, she started importing and distributing some of Europe’s most prestigious natural wines with her then-partner. This opened the door for Ash to travel to Europe and work with a raft of world-class producers.  

The legendary vignerons she has worked for in Europe include the sadly retired J.J Morel in Burgundy, Vino di Anna in Sicily and probably most informatively for the wines she produces now, Domaine Labet and Les Bottes Rouge in Jura. 

Ash was loving her life as a flying winemaker and didn’t think her time was quite done but the pandemic had other ideas and she was forced to return to New Zealand in 2020. With every intention to pick up her globe-trotting tour of the world's finest producers once possible, she sought domestic vineyard work and found herself at the Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough. It didn’t take long for her to fall in love with it and for her plans to leave steadily evaporated. 

The Wrekin Vineyard is one of the highest-altitude plantings in Marlborough, with the climate there characterised by long sunny days and cool nights, perfect for long ripening and development of flavour whilst retaining bracing acidity. The proximity to the ocean (visible on clear days from the vineyard) helps moderate the climate and protects it from extremes in both the height of summer and the depths of winter. 

The soils are mainly clay, with some gravel and loam, providing excellent drainage while retaining moisture essential for vine health through selected cover crops. Planted by the Johns family in 2002 as part of their larger polyculture property (1000ha overall with Angus beef, Merino wool, olives and forestry blocks), it has been managed organically since 2012 and biodynamically since 2018 and is family-owned and operated. The vineyard is planted to Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Noir (no Sauvignon Blanc in sight!), all of which Ash gets a cut of for her wines. 

Ash works full-time year-round in the vineyard and cellar, judiciously and gently guiding the vines and wines through whatever the vintage conditions may bring. In the cellar, she takes a very low-intervention approach without being dogmatic. All wines are hand-picked, wild fermented, never fined or filtered, with just a tickle of sulphur at bottling (30ppm max).

The wines show an incredible depth of concentration without sacrificing freshness on the palate. They balance the knife’s edge between generous and complex but invigorating and lively gorgeously. 

An extremely exciting young producer, who has achieved an awful lot in only a few years, and one we are extremely proud to represent in Australia.