Winemaker Owen Park produces 8000 cases a year, most of it grown on Park Estate's own vineyard. Sauvignon Blanc is the biggest-selling wine in a range that also includes Pinot Noir, some Bordeaux-style reds, Pinotage, Chardonnay, Riesling and Gamay.

Owen is enthusiastic about the Gamay, still a relatively rare grape variety in New Zealand, which produced its first vintage in 2003. He describes it as a light, spicy, Beaujolais-style wine - fruit-driven but with some oak influence. He's also a fan of Pinotage, a once-unfashionable grape that he sees as ideally suited to Hawke's Bay conditions.

Owen describes his Park Estate wines as fruit-driven and low in acid, which he thinks is one of the reasons his Sauvignon Blanc sells well. The Riesling is described as so low in acid that it can be fermented to total dryness (meaning that no residual sugar is left in the wine), yet remain soft on the palate.

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PARK ESTATE GAMAY ........................................................................................................................................................................ The Gamay is a relation to Pinot Noir and is also known as Beaujolais in France. The wine is produced from the grape variety Gamay Noir and is harvested in late March. Gamay is a delightfully fresh and light red wine, vibrantly coloured with juicy berried flavours and faint oak spices around the edges. It is a light, easy going and delicious summer wine offering structure, flavour and weight.