Located in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough, Yealands Family Wines produces award-winning wines in harmony with nature. Yealands Family wines is the culmination of the vision, dedication and hard work of Peter Yealands--a New Zealand pioneer with the goal of creating delicious wines and the world’s most sustainable winery. His motto to “think boldly, tread lightly and never say it cannot be done” guides every initiative at the estate. The wines are produced from vineyards in the Awatere Valley, Wairau and Southern Valley on a diverse collection of soils that include silts, gravels and clays. Peter was the first to plant vines in the Awatere valley a region that was previously thought unsuited to growing grapes. Today, the Seaview Vineyard in Awatere is the largest privately owned vineyard in New Zealand. The team at Yealands constantly seeks to innovate, giving back to both nature and the community. A broad range of sustainability initiatives are already in place. The winery building is the first winery in the world to be granted carboNZero certification. It utilizes rainwater collection, wind turbines, solar panels and heat recovery technologies to actually put energy back on the grid. In the vineyard, Southdown Babydoll sheep and Kunekune pigs graze to mow the grass between the vines and contribute compost. Chickens graze to keep vineyard pests under control. Classical music is played to the vines during the day using solar energy. Studies have shown that the vines respond positively to the vibrations and sound waves. Interestingly, the music also has shown an unusual effect on the vineyard chickens, with those closest to the music laying eggs that are around 16% bigger than the chickens furthest from the music! Wetlands development, butterfly habitat restoration and eco-friendly packaging are also part of the constant drive to give back to nature and reduce the winery's impact on the environment. The wines themselves are a brilliant reflection of the pristine environment from which they hail. Pure, fresh and full of vibrant flavours that speak of Marlborough’s unique terrior.