Alex Craighead (Kindeli & Ojisan)

Alex Craighead (Kindeli & Ojisan)

Nelson, New Zealand

Alex Craighead has been one of the leading figures in New Zealand’s move towards organic viticulture and low-intervention winemaking over the past decade. Through Kindeli, the project he started with his partner Josefina, he was among a small group of winemakers questioning what New Zealand wine could look like outside the conventions of the industry.

After studying winemaking at Lincoln University and working vintages around the world, Alex began experimenting with natural winemaking in 2013, releasing the first Kindeli wines the following year. In 2016, Alex and Josefina moved to Nelson, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, buying an existing organic vineyard and winery in Upper Moutere. Over the past decade Alex has slowly reshaped the vineyard, adding varieties including Albariño, Mtsvane, Chenin Blanc, Vermentino, Nebbiolo, Gamay and Cabernet Franc to its established plantings. The 'home vineyard' is just under 5 hectares of Moutere clay, surrounded by native bush and forest, and is certified organic through BioGro.

It is this vineyard that now forms the basis of Alex’s current chapter. The Home wines began as a separate, entirely estate-grown range: a more focused expression of the place Alex and Josefina have spent years farming and understanding. These wines are now evolving into Alex Craighead Wines, while Kindeli gradually takes a back seat. The change feels like a natural progression. Kindeli was about exploration: different vineyards, grapes, techniques and ideas. Alex Craighead Wines brings everything learnt through those years back to one farm. The wines remain hands-off and unmistakably Alex, but with greater focus on site and the farming behind them.

In addition to ACW, Alex also makes the Ojisan wines, a collaboration with longtime friend Kazuomi Fujimaki, he co-founded Artesano Vintners in Catalunya with Mike Shepherd, and he also consults and collaborates with wineries around the world, including projects in Japan.