Sherbrooke Cellars

Box O’ Birds

Winery

When Sherbrooke first sought to add a New Zealand property to its portfolio, we did not just want wines that stood out from the others for their quality-price ratio, but we also wanted wines that spoke of New Zealand’s commitment to environmental integrity. With the ocean of light, inexpensive, New Zealand wines out there we were determined to bring to the market a wine that over-delivered in taste, hit the sweet spot in price, and at the same time spoke of the environmental consciousness of where they came from. The culmination of our search is Box o’ Birds. Through a joint-venture with the winery of Prophet’s Rock, all of the fruit for the Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from Marlborough, the best growing regions for that varietal. Though Box O’ Birds is a negociant project (i.e. the fruit for the wine is sourced through long term contracts) the vineyard sites have been chosen with extreme care.

The growers are using organic mulch to help conserve water and reduce pesticides into the aquifer, and in winter they grow cover crops that are then cultivated into the soil to replace valuable nitrates that the vines take out during the growing season. In the winery, Box o’ Birds not only has a full recycling program, but they also use recycled cardboard for all their packing and the maximum amount of recycled glass in their bottles while still maintaining the bottles integrity. On top of this, they are also reducing their CO2 emissions by recycling fermentation-produced CO2 to purge empty tanks.

The label for these tasty bottlings is pure “kiwi”. Box O’ Birds is a New Zealand colloquialism that is spoken in answer to the daily question “How are you?” Its meaning signifies that the speaker is cheerful, happy, and in good health, the feeling that they hope each sip will bring. Enjoy.