mARK & SOPHIE MCGILL — ABEL
Mark & Sophie grew up immersed in wine and they have gone back to the grassroots of wine and cider making, planting apple trees and chardonnay vines on their beautiful piece of land in Tasman’s Upper Moutere Valley. Now with an established vineyard, a slowly evolving orchard, sheep farm and two little girls - they’re certainly keeping themselves busy.
How did Abel develop into the success it is now?
Mark and Sophie McGill both come from winemaking families and moved to Nelson to make chardonnay together with Sophie’s parents James and Wendy Healy.
Abel is a family business where everyone helps out. It’s still in its early years – we bought 30ha of rolling hills in the Moutere Valley suited to the style of Chardonnay we wanted to make and planted our first 5ha home block in 2019.
We also have a small block we lease nearby and work with a couple of other growers to source our fruit.
What is unique about your winemaking style and philosophy?
For us it's all about showcasing the fruit – our chardonnay has a certain freshness and purity which is key for us. There’s less oak and heaviness, and it has great overall food-friendliness. We especially like to make Chardonnay to drink with the wonderful seafood this region and New Zealand is known for. We’re one of the few winemakers that lists the ingredients on the back of the bottle – and there’s only one – grapes!
We make our Chardonnay in larger 3000-5000 litre French Oak cuves rather than small barrels – this approach is not very common in New Zealand. It helps us retain freshness through less oxidation during the maturation process, and the lower wine-to-wood ratio means the oak is more a vehicle for texture and structure rather than flavour, which allows the fruit to shine through.
Tell us about the key people behind Abel
It’s a small family business and we all muck in doing vineyard work, sales, bottling – whatever needs to be done.
Mark and James do most of the winemaking, but it is very much a true family business.
What are you working towards achieving in the short-long term for Abel?
We think Nelson has a great future as a place to grow Chardonnay – we want to help build that varietal identity.
