About
The estate was established in 1993 to create ‘a cleaner, purer place where wine isn’t made to formula but grown and fermented to best reflect the vineyard and season’. Muddy Water is a direct translation of the Maori place name – Wai (water) Para (sediment). The Waipara wine region boasts ideal grape-growing conditions: drenched in sunlight and protected from cool sea breezes by coastal hills, its warm summers, luminous autumns and distinctive limestone soils give ripe grapes with intense flavours yet fine acidities.
As the first certified organic winery in Canterbury, the vineyard and winery alike are run according to biodynamic principles. Muddy Water believe that their wines are a great expression of the region and try to interfere with this as little as possible, aiming to maximise wine quality and long-term sustainability.