The Babich family have been making wine in New Zealand since 1916, making us New Zealand’s most experienced family owned winery. With four generations of innovation, achievement, and winemaking excellence across three outstanding winemaking regions – it’s not just our passion, our livelihood and our future. It’s our way of life.
People thought Josip Babich was crazy back in 1912. Planting vines in remote New Zealand, then patiently making wine the difficult way – with vision, thoughtfulness, ingenuity, and true craft. Even after a century that vision and Josip’s hard-working spirit is something that still runs deep in our veins today; so we can continue leading the style and evolution of sustainably grown and crafted New Zealand wine for another 100 years – and beyond.
Every decision, every action, every challenge and triumph from our 100+ years of family winemaking history has helped mould us into who we are and what we stand for today – the good, the bold, and sometimes the slightly mad. It’s in how we tend our vines, craft our wines, and approach life: with passion, purpose, and a healthy disregard for doing things the way they’ve always been done.
Because lasting character, like great wine, isn’t about following a recipe. It develops through time, lots of time, through taking chances, through learning what rules to break (and which ones really matter).
Our wines have delighted wine drinkers around the world. But rather than losing our identity to scale, even after a century our vision remains simple; to share our deep-seated passion through patience, experience and good old-fashioned wisdom. All so we can pay it forward by leading the style and evolution of sustainably grown and crafted New Zealand wine for another 100 years – and beyond.
To have vineyards in the right regions on superior sites, and getting the right varieties on those superior sites.
We aim to sustainably craft wines that are stylish and refined and have easy drinking appeal.
For over a century, four generations of the Babich family have crafted wines with instinct, care, and character. Beyond a family business, it has become a deeply personal legacy rooted in the land, shaped by hard work, and guided by family values – passed down, perfected over time, and poured into every bottle we proudly share with the world.
A century of fine winemaking deserves more than one story. To celebrate our centenary, we shared 100 stories which have shaped our family’s 100 years of innovation, achievement and winemaking excellence.
