Join us for an exclusive masterclass with Rippon's Nick Mills

Rippon: the vineyard everyone photographs and few actually understand.

Fifteen hectares on a schist escarpment falling into Lake Wānaka, farmed by the Mills family since 1912 and planted to vines by Rolfe and Lois Mills from 1975. Most of it is ungrafted, all of it dry-farmed, and it has been Demeter-certified biodynamic since Nick Mills took over the cellar in 2003.

Nick is the fourth generation on this land. He spent 1998 to 2002 in Burgundy, including time at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Jean-Jacques Confuron, Albert Mann and de la Vougeraie, then came home. The winemaking has been consistent ever since: fruit crushed by foot, whites fermented on full lees, nothing added but a small amount of sulphur, and in the finest years not even that.

This masterclass runs the estate from top to bottom. Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling across both the Mature Vine and Jeunesse tiers, the Gewürztraminer, then four Pinots in ascending order of site: the estate Mature Vine blend, Emma's Block off the east-facing lakefront clay, and Tinker's Field from the oldest coarse-schist gravels. The 2017 and 2019 back vintages sit alongside the new 2023s, which is the point of the evening. Rippon Pinot makes its case slowly, and this is a rare chance to taste that argument in full.

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Join us for an exclusive Rippon tasting & masterclass:

Date: Tuesday, 15th September 2026
Time: 6pm – 7.30pm (Doors open at 5:45pm)
Venue: Wineaway, 41 Montpelier Road Bowen Hills QLD 4006
Host: Nick Mills, 4th Gen Winemaker & GM
Ticket: $89 pp ***(admits one)***

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ON TASTING:

• Sauvignon Blanc 2023
• Mature Vine Riesling 2024
• Jeunesse Young Vine Riesling 2019
• Gewürztraminer 2023
• Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2019
• Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2023
• Emma's Block Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2017
• Emma's Block Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2023
• Tinker's Field Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2023

Accompanied with a selection of gourmet canapes, antipasti & charcuterie.