The Landing has spent nearly two decades figuring out what wine can look like at the northern edge of New Zealand.

Its 33-acre vineyard sits on the Purerua Peninsula in the Bay of Islands, overlooking Rangihoua Bay and surrounded by native bush, wetlands, and farmland. It is a warm, maritime site far removed from the country's best-known wine regions, with clay and sandstone soils and a growing season shaped by both sunshine and the sea.

Image: Purerua Peninsula in the Bay of Islands.

For years, The Landing has been quietly developing its response to that environment. Now the wines are attracting attention in the United States.

At the 2026 USA Wine Ratings, Madre Chardonnay 2022 earned Gold with 94 points and was named both Wine of the Year – New Zealand and Chardonnay of the Year – New Zealand. The recognition builds on an earlier USA Wine Ratings Gold for The Landing Chardonnay 2022 in 2024 and follows a broader run of strong results for the estate.

Image: 2026 USA Wine Ratings winner - 2022 Madre Chardonnay.

There is a story behind those awards, however, that starts long before a bottle reaches a judging table.

Where New Zealand's Wine Story Began

The Landing's location has an unusually long connection with New Zealand viticulture.

In 1819, Reverend Samuel Marsden planted vines nearby, among the earliest recorded grapevines in the country. Marsden also recognized the agricultural potential of the Bay of Islands, including its suitability for growing grapes.

Almost 190 years later, The Landing began planting its own vineyard.

Chardonnay and Syrah went into the ground in 2007, followed by Pinot Gris, Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. The first vintage was produced in 2010.

The decision to plant such a broad selection was partly practical. Northland's warmer climate offers growing conditions quite different from those found in the cooler regions that dominate New Zealand's international wine identity. The Landing had to discover which varieties could make genuinely distinctive wines on its own land.

Over time, Chardonnay and Syrah emerged as important pillars of the estate, while the wider vineyard continued to provide room for experimentation across white, red, and rosé styles.

A Vineyard Shaped by the Sea

The Purerua Peninsula gives The Landing a very different growing environment from Marlborough or Central Otago.

The vineyard is sheltered by surrounding hills but exposed to the influence of the Bay of Islands. Sea breezes move through the vines, while the relatively warm climate provides a long season for ripening.

Beneath the vines are dense Marua clay soils and areas of sandstone. The Landing believes the combination contributes to concentration and complexity, while the coastal conditions help retain freshness.

It is an environment that rewards close attention.

Rather than trying to reproduce a style associated with another part of New Zealand, the estate has spent years understanding what its own vineyard can produce. That has meant learning how different blocks behave, which varieties perform best, and how the fruit changes from season to season.

Image: The Landing's vineyard.

Ben Byrne's Long View

That knowledge is central to the work of Ben Byrne, The Landing's winemaker and viticulturalist.

A Northland native, Byrne studied viticulture and oenology at Lincoln University before gaining experience in Australia and California. His relationship with The Landing began well before he became head winemaker.

He had worked on every vintage from 2012 onward before joining the estate in 2019. By then, the winery was approaching completion, and Byrne was involved in its design as well as its wines.

That history gives him something increasingly valuable in estate winemaking: familiarity.

He has seen how the vineyard behaves across years rather than trying to understand it from a handful of harvests. He knows which seasons bring particular challenges and which parcels consistently produce the fruit he wants.

It also means the winery has developed alongside the vineyard.

Image: (L-R) Ben Byrne, Winemaker & Viticulturalist, and Tereza Byrne, Vineyard manager.

Bringing the Winery Home

The Landing opened its own winery in 2020.

Before that, the estate's fruit was made into wine elsewhere. Bringing production onto the property changed the relationship between vineyard and cellar. Grapes could now be harvested and processed on site, with the team controlling the entire journey from fruit to finished bottle.

The winery was designed with its surroundings in mind, using natural ventilation and sunlight while reducing the need to transport grapes away from the estate.

The Landing is also certified under Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, with its farming practices addressing water use, energy, soil health, biodiversity, and fertilizer management.

For a relatively small vineyard, that integration matters. The same people can observe the vines, decide when to harvest, receive the fruit at the winery, and follow the wine through fermentation and aging.

It creates continuity.

Chardonnay at the Center

Chardonnay has become one of the clearest expressions of that relationship between site and cellar.

The Landing's Chardonnay is made from estate-grown fruit, with indigenous fermentation forming part of the winemaking approach. Barrel selection and aging are used to build texture and complexity while maintaining the freshness that comes naturally from the coastal site.

The Madre wines represent the estate's highest tier. They are made only in vintages considered exceptional enough to warrant the designation and receive additional selection in the winery.

The name itself is personal. Madre honors Sue Cooper, one of the figures behind the estate and the person whose vision helped inspire the original vineyard planting.

The 2022 Madre Chardonnay is therefore more than another vintage in the portfolio. It represents the culmination of years of work with the vineyard, from deciding where to plant and what to plant through to understanding how the fruit responds in the winery.

Image: 2022 Madre Chardonnay.

Its USA Wine Ratings recognition gives that work an important external validation.

A Portfolio That Reflects the Site

Chardonnay may now sit at the heart of the estate, but The Landing has never been a one-variety vineyard.

The portfolio extends across Syrah, Pinot Gris, Rosé, Sangiovese, Montepulciano, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, reflecting both the latitude of Northland and the family's willingness to discover what different varieties can do on the property.

Syrah has proved particularly important. The estate's Madre Syrah 2022 also performed strongly at the 2026 USA Wine Ratings, demonstrating that the property's potential is not limited to white wine.

The Landing's more accessible Boathouse range provides another expression of the vineyard, while the The Landing collection sits at the core of the estate's portfolio. Madre occupies the top tier, reserved for the wines and vintages the team believes can represent the property at its best.

The structure is useful because it allows the estate to tell the same story at different levels of intensity.

Image: 2026 USA Wine Ratings winners - (L-R) 2022 Madre Chardonnay, 2025 The Landing Rosé, 2022 Madre Syrah, 2025 The Landing Pinot Gris, 2024 The Landing Syrah, 2024 The Landing Chardonnay.

A Landscape Beyond the Vines

The vineyard is part of a much larger environmental project.

The Landing's property includes native forest, wetlands, farmland, and areas undergoing ecological restoration. More than one million trees and plants have been planted across the property, with an on-site nursery producing native seedlings.

That work is not separate from the wine business. It is part of the way the owners understand the estate.

Visitors encounter the vineyard within that wider landscape, rather than arriving at a winery that could be transplanted anywhere. Wine, food, farming, native planting, and the coastline all form part of the experience.

It gives The Landing a sense of place that cannot be reduced to a tasting note.

Why the USA Results Matter

The USA Wine Ratings recognition is important precisely because it comes after years of work on the estate.

The Landing Chardonnay had already earned Gold at the 2024 competition. In 2026, Madre Chardonnay moved into a different category of recognition, taking both Wine of the Year – New Zealand and Chardonnay of the Year – New Zealand.

The wider 2026 results also showed strength across the portfolio, including Madre Syrah, The Landing Rosé, Pinot Gris, Syrah, and Chardonnay.

For an estate outside New Zealand's traditional wine powerhouses, that breadth is arguably more revealing than a single high score.

It suggests that The Landing has developed a genuine understanding of its site and can translate that understanding across varieties and wine styles.

The competition recognition also comes from judges with direct experience in the U.S. wine trade, giving the results relevance beyond the cellar.

Putting Northland on the Table

New Zealand wine is often understood through a handful of regions and varieties. The Landing complicates that picture in a useful way.

Its wines come from a warmer, northern environment, where the sea plays an important role and where the vineyard sits within a much broader agricultural and ecological landscape.

The estate has spent nearly twenty years learning how to make that environment work.

The first Chardonnay and Syrah vines were planted in 2007. The first vintage followed in 2010. The winery came home to the property in 2020. Byrne has been involved across more than a decade of vintages.

Now, the results are beginning to show what that accumulated experience can produce.

The 2026 USA Wine Ratings recognition for Madre Chardonnay 2022 gives The Landing a significant platform in the American market, while its broader results demonstrate that the estate's strengths extend beyond one bottle.

There is a pleasing logic to the progression.

First came the land. Then the vines. Then the winery. Then the years of learning.

Image: The Landing Winery and Wine Club.

The awards came later.

For The Landing, the more important achievement is what those years have revealed: that Northland can produce serious wine when a producer is willing to understand the place on its own terms.

The Landing is no longer simply making wine at the northern edge of New Zealand.

It is making a case for why that edge matters.

Header Image: Ben Byrne, Winemaker & Viticulturalist.

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