Capsule’s Kelly and Alice take a little gals trip down to Central Otago – and find that the wine is just a little sweeter when it’s had a woman’s touch from vine to glass! You’ll want to add this visit to Mora Wines to the group chat asap for next year, trust us…
As something of a *connoisseur* when it comes to girls’ trips, we know a thing or two about what makes a great one. Your besties, of course – but also a gorgeous view, great food, endless hours to beat that same dead horse you always yap about and crucially, a delicious glass or two of wine.
We wish we could transport you to where we are right now – we’re sitting at a stunningly decorated long table positively groaning with food and wine as the sun gently sets on Mora Wines’ beautiful Central Otago vineyard, surrounded by awesome women and epic yarns. In short, it’s a perfect moment – but when you dig a little deeper with this Kiwi wine label, it’s even better.
Made for Kiwi women, by Kiwi women
At Mora the entire life of the wine – from the soil it grows in to the glass it ends up in – is overseen by women.
General Manager Kathryn Pettit steers the ship, bringing a 25-year wine-industry career, including a decade leading the Skeggs Group’s former Akarua wine brand, before guiding Mora’s launch. Out in the vineyard, Cat MacLachlan manages the vines: a long-time Central Otago vigneron and a genuine champion of winemaking who makes her decisions block by block. And in the cellar, winemaker Sarah Adamson, who co-founded her own label, Scout Wines and honed her craft across Central Otago and the Adelaide Hills, coaxes out fragrance, texture and the clear voice of each site.
It doesn’t stop at the wine, either. The cellar door and on-site restaurant in Arrowtown, Mora Wines & Artisan Kitchen, is co-owned and run by Deb Pickens, alongside her husband, Executive Chef John Pickens, and the cellar door is commanded by the legendary Vicki Robinson, whose infectious personality adds a whole *vibe* to your visit that’s perfect for a gal’s trip!
Being run by so many incredible women isn’t something Mora makes a song and dance about and winemaking in New Zealand, at its senior levels, is still a fairly male world although, says Vicki, things are improving for wāhine in wine.
“Women in the wine industry are becoming increasingly common, and it is less rare to see women in these positions,” she says. “It certainly makes for a passionate working environment with a strong interest in communication and teamwork. New Zealand is a pioneer in female winemakers, and some of the best wine awards are given to brands with women at the top.”
But to sit at a table where the grower, the maker, the manager and the host are all women – guys, that’s special.
Inside Mora Wines
Mora is Latin for “to linger” – to take pause. It’s a fitting name for a brand whose whole philosophy is about slowing down and enjoying the good, simple things in life, and it’s the latest chapter for a family that’s been shaping Central Otago wine for three decades.
Mora is the work of the Skeggs Group, a second-generation, New Zealand family-owned company. Sir Clifford and Lady Marie Skeggs planted their first vines in Bannockburn back in 1996, and Mora is where all those years of patient growing and making have landed: a premium, small-production range you can’t pick up at the supermarket – that’s right, we’re in a bit of fancy-pants territory here. To get your hands on it you visit, or you order online.
The vineyards stretch across roughly 90 hectares in the Bannockburn and Pisa subregions, farmed sustainably with a serious commitment to organics. Mora bought Central Otago’s oldest certified organic vineyard in 2018 and has since converted a second. cover cropping, water management and even sheep grazing between the rows: it’s hands-on, very considered farming, with an eye on the next generation rather than the next vintage.
The ultimate girls’ trip destination – Mora Wines and Artisan Kitchen
When Capsule visited for our own little girls’ trip, we headed out to the vineyards in Cromwell themselves for Mora’s annual harvest lunch (trust us and book tickets for your autumn trip next year, you don’t want to miss out!).
It’s the most exciting, all-hands stretch of the wine year. Mora’s 2026 picking kicked off on 16 March at the 25 Steps vineyard in Pisa, starting with the Pinot Noir bound for the sparkling wine, before rosé and the rest of the still wines. A cooler-than-usual summer had the whole region running about ten days behind but far from panicking, the team was thrilled and excitemement about this vintage was palpable, because cooler years like this tend to bring more complexity and nuance to the glass.
But, the trade-off is tight picking windows, so Sarah and Cat are forever out tasting the fruit, watching not just the sugar but the flavour, waiting for the exact right moment, then getting it off the vines, often by hand.
But for the true eat, drink, yap experience, you only need to head to Mora’s cellar door just outside of Arrowtown.
You’ll find the cellar door and Artisan Kitchen at 265 Arrowtown-Lake Hayes Road, about 20 minutes from central Queenstown and well worth the short drive. Settle in for a guided tasting across the Mora range, led by Vicki who’ll make sure you’re looked after exquisitely – in fact, she’ll make it her own personal mission!
Start with her own personal recommendation – the 2023 Mora Eden Chardonnay. “Chardonnay is my favourite because it’s so versatile,” she says. “I enjoy it with a chowder in the winter, cheese and crackers in the summer or just with friends on the patio year round.”
For us, you absolutely, 100%, cannot go past the Mora 2022 Kolo. This is. serious Pinot Noir that still lives in our dreams, it’s that good – soft, sophisticated and smooth, it is without doubt one of the most exceptional red wines we’ve ever tried!
You can do your tastings out in the garden, in the covered outdoor seating, or inside the lovingly restored historic cottage. The hosting is unhurried and full of discoveries, which is precisely the speed you want when you’re with your gals and there’s nowhere else to be.
Then there’s the food – the food! Executive Chef John Pickens and his team cook from scratch, leaning on the South Island’s best sustainable produce and Central Otago’s local growers. Honest, comforting, generous, social: the kind of long lunch that really does earn the word linger. Pair a few plates with the wines and you’ve got the makings of that perfect afternoon you won’t want to end.
And here’s the practical detail every group on the wine will appreciate: there’s a bus stop right at the gate with a frequent timetable back to Queenstown, so you can all drink, be merry and fully relax.
Mora’s whole reason for being is captured in that one Latin word: to pause, to take time, to be present with the people you love over good food and good wine. On a girls’ trip, that’s not a bad mission statement to borrow for an afternoon.
So when you’re next in Queenstown no matter when you visit, toast the harvest, meet the women behind the bottle, and let the afternoon stretch out the way it’s meant to.
You’ll find Mora at the cellar door, or explore the range and book your visit at mora.co.nz.
Wines available exclusively at Mora Wines Cellar Door and mora.co.nz.
