Most people who fall in love with Cable Bay fall in love with the view. The Verandah looking out over Matiatia Bay, the boats threading the channel, the long lunch that becomes a longer afternoon. Easy to do. Hard to fault.
But spend a moment with winemaker Ashton Hendriks at the top of the vineyard — boots in the dirt, glass in hand — and the conversation shifts. He scuffs the soil with his toe until a brighter band of rust-red clay shows through.
“This is the wow factor,” he says. “Most people never see it.”
Cable Bay’s hillside sits on ancient sandstone and mudstone, criss-crossed with veins of iron and manganese oxide. It’s the geological signature of Waiheke Island.
The Syrah is the wine to know about right now. Fragrant, mid-weight, expressive — black plum, crushed violet, a smudge of pepper, and a quiet salinity from being grown so close to the sea. It’s been five-star rated by Michael Cooper, scored 94 points by Cameron Douglas, and recognised by Gourmet Traveller Wine.* At an RRP of $54, it’s also one of the few premium NZ Syrahs that won’t make your eyes water at the till.
What’s quietly remarkable is how rare it is. Waiheke Island produces less than one per cent of New Zealand’s wine. New Zealand makes one per cent of the world’s. So a glass of Cable Bay Syrah is, mathematically, one of the more uncommon things you’ll drink this year. The estate makes around 3,000 cases annually across thirteen wines — every parcel hand-picked from one of two single vineyards, one on Waiheke, one in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley.
There’s another shift worth knowing about. Since 2016, the family-owned estate has been farmed regeneratively — shifting away from synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Hendriks credits the change with the increasing depth of recent vintages. “The wine has more to say now,” he says. “We just have to listen.”
The visit itself remains as effortless as ever. A 45-minute ferry from downtown, a short drive west, and you’re at the cellar door. Book a Connoisseur Tasting, and you’ll work through the Single Vineyard and Reserve range with someone who knows every parcel by name. Stay for lunch at the Verandah — the new autumn menu is built around the wines. Wander the olive grove. Take a bottle home.
Then pour a glass, hold it to the light, and look at the colour. That ruby-edged garnet? That’s the iron in the hill. The hidden gem, hiding in plain sight.
