144 ISLANDS
144 Islands is dedicated to the production of quality single-vineyard wines from their home estate in the Bay of Islands, as well as specially selected sites throughout the Far North of New Zealand. They place emphasis on producing fine wines that convey a point of time and place, honouring the rich history of Northland – the birthplace of New Zealand.
Owner, Jake Dromgool; “My family have been farming this land, in the hills outside of Kerikeri, overlooking the beautiful Bay of Islands, since well before I was born.
In 2014, my family had just purchased a block of land bordering on our farm, in the middle of which was a block of bush. Exploring this bush one afternoon, my father and I were surprised to find a long abandoned garden, with grapevines, not having been pruned in likely 70 years, which had reverted to their wild state, growing to the tops of the canopy of Totara trees, and better still, they were loaded with delicious fruit. It was at this point my father and I started to discuss the prospect of planting a vineyard on this land. As the years went by, I continued planting more, continuing to experiment, and as the vineyard grew, so too did my passion for wine, my skillset and my breadth of understanding for what was required to make truly singular fine wines from this special site that is our Home Block.
Not long after we started establishing the vineyard, I met Melika, I put her to work in the vineyard on our first date, and within a year we started a family. Since then we’ve developed our Home Block together, with our 3 young children Remy, Marnie and Coco following close behind.”
Visit 144 Islands website here