Amy Farnsworth doesn't produce Sauvignon Blanc

But her portfolio doesn't miss it. A conversation with the New Zealand-based winemaker.

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Amy Farnsworth is a New Zealand-based natural winemaker, crafting wines with no addition or adulterations of any kind. Amy has worked a number of harvests around the world and brings those experiences to her work in New Zealand. She focuses on responsible farming, working to improve the health of the soils in the growing process. I chatted with her about her path to winemaking, why she doesn’t work with New Zealand’s most famous grape, and building her brand.

Brianna Plaza: Can you tell me about your background and how you got started in winemaking?

Amy Farnsworth: I’m originally from Canada, and I was working in some wine stores in Vancouver and I got the wine bug. I worked in restaurants, and eventually worked for an importer and moved to New Zealand in 2009, right during the recession.

I lost my job and was doing marketing for a lot of biodynamic producers, and I approached Felton Road and asked them if I could get a job. They said yes, and that was how I got into working at one of the most amazing biodynamic wine producers. I learned so much and I realized I wasn’t a city girl after all. 

I fell in love with farming. I started doing vintages and I moved to Burgundy and did my studies there. It’s been a long journey to get here. My mom is actually Kiwi, so I have some roots in the country.

Brianna Plaza: You’ve done a number of harvests around the world. How did that work help you hone in on your style? 

Amy Farnsworth: First and foremost, working for biodynamic and organic producers and working in France, everything is very traditional. It’s more about working in the vineyard and taking care of your soil and rigorous canopy management. I learned to express the terroir of each parcel in Burgundy, and that's something that I carry through to my wine making now. It's about getting things right in the vineyard, which sounds so cliché, but it actually is so important. I spend a lot more time in the vineyard than most winemakers do.

When I lived in France, it was really a huge pinnacle moment for me. It’s how I really fell in love with organic natural wines. I hadn't really tasted wines like that before, and my palate was awakened. I had tasted some great wines in Vancouver, but I didn’t have the experience of actually being with winemakers and the very festive atmosphere.

I age a lot in amphora and it’s a stylistic choice of mine. I'm the only one in Hawke's Bay that has those. A few others are starting to utilize them, but you could count on your hand the people that have amphora in Hawke's Bay. I’ve always loved their textured feeling and I love the purity of the fruit that comes through on the palate. I’m doing Albariño, Chenin Blanc, and Gamay Noir in amphora at the moment.

Brianna Plaza: How did your work at those big vineyards help you decide to go out in your own versus staying with an existing brand?

Amy Farnsworth: I think over time I just became so inspired by what everyone was doing. There just comes a point where you’re working for other people and you have to do what they say, and it’s not always fun. I just wanted to do my own thing, but it took me a while to get the confidence to buy a bunch of grapes and play with them. I started really small and I didn’t want to go too crazy. 

I had this burning desire to express myself. I think that winemaking is an extension of who you are. Everything from the labels to the names, it’s an extension of me.

I think we all get like that after working for other people, but not everyone decides to take that leap of faith in working for yourself. 

Amoise Wines

Brianna Plaza: You don’t produce any Sauvignon Blanc, arguably one of New Zealand’s most famous exports. Tell me about the decision. 

Amy Farnsworth: Just to be honest, I just don't even really like Sauvignon Blanc. 

Brianna Plaza: Are you allowed to say that? Is that legal?

Amy Farnsworth: No, I don’t think so. There's some beautiful Sauvignon Blanc out there and there are some really cool expressions of it, but it accounts for 85% to 90% of our production. All of our eggs are in that Sauvignon Blanc basket.

Everybody is doing it and all the big players are doing it, and they are making wine for $15 a bottle. When you’re making certified organic and biodynamic wine, you’re spending way more money than those producers do. It’s very hard to have that on an economic scale. And I just never wanted to work with Sauvignon Blanc. Why would I want to produce that wine when there’s so much competition? 

When I started in 2018, the only certified organic fruit I could get was Pinot Gris, and it was amazing. At that time it was very hard to find organic fruit in Hawke’s Bay. In the following years, I was able to get Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, and Game Noir. 

Brianna Plaza: You do a lot of pop-ups and events. Is that to build the brand or to compensate for a lack of wine bars in the area? 

Amy Farnsworth: It's honestly both, and in the beginning it was just me and Halcyon doing pop-ups because we were basically the only natural wine producers in Hawke's Bay. We wanted to teach consumers about natural wine.

In the beginning we'd do pop-ups where we'd have all the wines that we would love to drink, so we'd introduce them to international versions. And then finally, as we started to make more wine, we started to promote ourselves. As soon as we had more wines in our repertoire, we started working with different chefs and people really started to come out.