The Winemaker  

Nick Nobilo is regarded as a pioneer of the modern New Zealand wine industry. During his time at the helm of the family business, Nobilo wines scored some notable firsts and gained increasing accolades. Nick's love affair with aromatics is the driving force behind the creation of his winery Vinoptima and the Ashwood Estate Pinot Gris.

Some of Nick’s accomplishments include:

  • 1970s - Nobilo Pinotage, Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines, which had until then been untried on a commercial scale, become collectors’ items. Nobilo also produces New Zealand’s first commercial quantities of Gewurztraminer in 1972.
       
  • 1979 - The distinguished Master of Wine, English wine merchant John Avery, is so impressed by the 1976 Nobilo Cabernet Sauvignon that he decides to import it. It’s the first New Zealand wine to be imported on a commercial scale into the United Kingdom.
            

  • 1980s - Nobilo wins the Australia and New Zealand Foundation trophy for the top wine of New Zealand, and the London-based Decanter Trophy for the New Zealand wine with the best export potential. Both wines were barrel fermented Chardonnays. Nick was the first to use new French oak Chardonnay in New Zealand in 1973.
      
  • 1989 - Nick develops New Zealand’s first true generic wine style by blending the highly successful Muller Thurgau with Sauvignon Blanc, he calls the wine ‘White Cloud’. Large export markets in Europe and Asia are secured with this fresh-tasting, blended wine.
      
  • 1990s - A Nobilo Chardonnay fights off stiff international competition to be selected by British Airways as the first New World wine for serving on all of the airline’s European flights. Winemaker Nick Nobilo had correctly gauged what would taste palatable at 35,000 feet. This supply arrangement continues today, more than ten years after it began.
      
  • 2000 - Nobilo Icon, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 1999, awarded World Champion Sauvignon Blanc at the London Wine and Spirits Competition, one of the world’s top international wine competitions.
      
  • 2003 - Nick Nobilo produces the first vintage of Vinoptima Ormond Gewurztraminer that goes on to achieve international acclaim after its release at the end of 2004.