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Stories from the land
A new winery and the launch of a captivating new campaign have positioned Leefield Station on an exciting road ahead…
IT’S BEEN quite the year already for Marisco Vineyards, owner of wine brands Leefield Station, The Ned and The Kings Series. The Marlborough company has opened the first stage of a major new winery at its Leefield Station vineyard and launched a new campaign for the unique brand, as well as grown domestic and export sales and brought in a harvest under strict COVID-19 regulations. Siobhan Wilson, General Manager Sales and Marketing for Marisco Vineyards, says while it was a challenging few months, everyone in the business rose to the occasion brilliantly. “Our winery and vineyard staff were amazing, and as the saying goes – in a crisis is where you see people’s true colours. We were blown away by how our teams pulled together.” She says despite everything that was going on, the 2020 harvest went incredibly well. “The weather was awesome, yield was on track and quality sensational – you couldn’t have asked for a better vintage.”
Consumers turn to The Ned
While harvest required a lot of focus domestically, Marisco’s export and logistics teams were working hard to fulfil wine orders after a sudden increase in overseas demand for The Ned, particularly from the UK and Australia. “In markets like the UK, which is a big market for us anyway, pre-COVID we’d seen sales start to slow and we had attributed this to the uncertainty around Brexit,” says Wilson. “But when COVID hit we suddenly saw a spike. Our key buyers described trading as being like the Christmas period, but without the planning. We were receiving orders and being asked if we could ship in the same week, which is unheard of normally. “I believe this is testament to the power of The Ned brand in markets like the UK – in a crisis people turn to trusted brands, their favourites that will help them get through the tough times – and this is what saw our sales increase.” Wilson says they saw similar patterns in New Zealand during lockdown with The Ned performing well in the limited grocery and online sales. “We again saw people turning to their trusted brands, and more so as we came out of lockdown and business went back to normal. While overall in the New Zealand market there was an increase in the sub-$10 segment The Ned shone through and has continued to sell – once again testament to the strength of our brand.”
New winery for Leefield Station
Another brand building rapid momentum is Leefield Station, which saw Stage 1 of its new winery completed in time for vintage 2020. Leefield Station takes its name from the 2200ha property that Marisco Vineyards’ owner and winemaker Brent Marris bought in 2013. It’s a century-old beef and sheep station in the upper reaches of Marlborough’s Waihopai Valley and just four kilometres from his Marisco base, which is home to the company’s Waihopai River winery. Leefield Station’s beef and sheep farm still operates, with around a quarter of the property now converted to vineyard. The first wines were released in late 2016 to great acclaim, and increased plantings have meant more winery capacity was needed. Rather than expand the Waihopai River winery, Marris opted to build a new winery at Leefield Station to futureproof the business for generations to come. The plan was to have the first stage of the winery ready to receive 2020 fruit from the Leefield Station vineyard and so the construction and engineering teams had to work hard under COVID-19 constraints to have it ready for the first load in the first week of April. The Leefield Winery team, led by Brent Marris’ daughter Emma, then processed 3,500 tonnes through the new winery in just two weeks. “It’s been designed with volume, efficiency and gentle handling of fruit in mind, so it will become a powerhouse winery that can handle large volumes of fruit in a timely
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and efficient manner,” says Wilson. “It worked incredibly well and when fully complete the new winery’s capacity will be 20,000 tonnes.”
Animals star in new Leefield Station campaign
Marisco Vineyards is now putting Leefield Station front and centre for consumers looking for wine with a strong provenance story. A new campaign showcases the brand’s unique combination of agriculture and viticulture, with animals from the farm taking starring roles. “There’s so much on offer in the world of wine that a brand needs to stand out,” says Siobhan Wilson. “Any connection you can make with the consumer that is memorable and authentic really makes the difference. “We have a unique proposition with Leefield Station as we are an operating farm and vineyard/winery all on the same property. This is something we wanted to celebrate and let consumers know about. Why not celebrate the farm alongside the wine – and everyone loves a cute picture of an animal, right?” The new campaign includes print and digital executions and Marisco Vineyards has worked closely with distribution partner Lion to provide assets to customers for use in their advertising or on social media platforms. Siobhan Wilson says the feedback so far has been hugely positive, with one customer getting in touch on Facebook to let them know she loved the “Seriously good – no bull” image so much that she had it printed and framed.
Solid foundations for the future
Having successfully navigated a challenging few months, Siobhan Wilson says the overall feeling for Marisco and its brands is very positive, with a focus on managing growth and ensuring solid foundations for the business to keep growing for the generations to come. “The great thing about being familyowned, with the next generation now working in the business, is that you know we’re in it for the long haul and, as Brent says, this helps you to slow down and make sound decisions for the future.”
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