Ben Glover is a bit of a star in the New Zealand wine world. He was chief winemaker for Wither Hills and a number of other well-known brands, is a regular judge on the show circuit and now makes a great range of wines to his own account.
Ben is Marlborough born and bred, to a local dairy farming family. The farm is situated between the town limits of Blenheim and the coast, in the lee of the Wither Hills range which provides protection from the southerly gales. Well-watered by the Opaoa river – a tributary for the Wairau – vines thrive in the loamy, alluvial soils. Growing up, Ben was surrounded by the ascent of wine production in the area. Choosing wine as a career, he won one of the inaugural Len Evans scholarships from the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology. In 2016 he made the jump from the world of corporate winemaking and launched the family wine brand, Zephyr, named after his great grandfather’s old Ford motor car, once a staple of the New Zealand roads. In fact, when we visited him on Waitangi Day a year or two back, there parked in the winery was Ben’s pride and joy: a beautiful 1965 Mark 3 Ford Zephyr with wings and all! As a result of his time sourcing for larger brands, Ben has a brilliant address book for buying the best grapes, not just from Marlborough but further afield too. This has enabled him to launch some other brands too and, fortunately, to make an own label for Tanners.
ALC 12.5%Organic
V VG£13.50 / per bottleDry and aromaticFish, White
ALC 13%
