Barbour Vineyarns

27/05/2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, that’s how it feels for us – this is when we officially start our year.

Holiday and rest is done and now winter slows things down a notch. As the shorter daylight hours limit vineyard activity and progress, this year we’ll be donning a few more hats and meeting new people to showcase our wines – sales and marketing! Goodbye comfort zone and hello new growth. Always learning and we love it.

(📸 And yes this pic because it will ALWAYS trump a pic of our vineyard in winter REGARDLESS of how sunny we get them in North Canterbury!)

17/05/2026

Fernbank in the wild!!

We have looked forward to these moments for a VERY long time and did NOT disappoint.

We had the most memorable couple of days on safari and we LOVED spending it with friends and making new ones.

These memories will live a LONG time during pruning season!!!

12/05/2026

Time OUT!!.

We often get asked when do we stop- NOW!! For us it’s the best timing: the year is done, the mahi has paid off, nothing needs to happen in the vineyard (for once!) and we step away now to savour that good feeling.

When we come back pruning is the start of a new season and a new year and we do it all again… but for now we are catching up with dear friends, exploring Sri Lanka and RELAXING!!

Win. Win. Win

01/05/2026

Thrilled to pack our wines yesterday to head off to Japan shortly… it’s another milestone that we are hugely grateful for.

29/04/2026

Three Cheers for the Mums in our lives!!

Get your gifting sorted by choosing any three wines (that’s 27 combinations!) and we will sort the shipping. Use the code MOTHERSHIP at checkout. 😉

28/04/2026

Thanks to Claire Inkson for capturing our story during a crazy hectic week in our season. As our season / year draws to close it’s another chance to review and celebrate how far we have come in a year let alone FIVE! 🥂

Some dreams sit quietly in the background for years.Not because they are small, but because they require time, money, patience, and a certain amount of stubborn belief.For Matt and Helen Barbour, owning their own vineyard was one of those dreams.Matt has been in the wine industry most of his adult l...

23/02/2026

We are looking forward to releasing our Rosé at the North Canterbury Wine and Food Festival on the 8th March.

We labelled it last week and love how it captures the essence of the Ute Bar- texturally unique, fit for any purpose but just a little bit extra 💥

Sign up on our website to order before the rest!

04/10/2024

WWWBWW!
(where would we be without Wwoofer’s!?)

Well where do we even start!?! 2023 saw us dive into the world of wwoofers. (Say what!?)

“WWOOFING” isn’t new or limited to NZ but in super super SUPER basic terms: It’s exchanging manual help for food and accommodation.

It’s an awesome way for those travelling to experience and learn more about the lifestyles of a country and a chance to give back.

There’s several sites where people can do this however we chose WWOOF which is ‘World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms’ a.k.a folks like US!

We have seen local friends do this as hosts with their home and vineyard being on the same spot but with our set up it might not work…. But Boy We were wrong!

Our next few posts will share the AMAZING difference we saw adding WWOOFING to the mix and how much it enriched our season… (spoiler alert- WE LOVED IT!!!!)

25/02/2024

Weekends “off” feel new, awkward but also a bit nice…

It’s only for a short time until the harvest starts so bear with us if we don’t pop up in stories often and say “hi” - we’re out there, loving our amazing community…

and waiting on to get the fire (and party) started!

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas 2023

We’re enjoying a mini break away, have recharged the batteries and heading home to do only the essential vineyard mahi before new year arrives… hope you’re having a wonderful time and making it count whomever you’re spending it with…

ALSO Just wanted to say thanks for making our year tick along by giving us support, kindness and aroha- we love sharing the journey with you and on the days where it’s a little trickier/trying or down right character building… your aroha has been valued immensely.

It really means a lot to us so thank you! Chat soon… x