Location | The Climate | The Geology | The Soil | Iwi | Bankhouse | Sir David Monro | Short Regional History
LOCATION
Ara lies at the confluence of Marlborough’s Wairau and Waihopai rivers, a 1600 hectare terrace laid down by the river systems that existed some 20,000 years ago. Bordered by rivers on three sides and steep hills to the west, Ara is a naturally defined viticultural zone; a noteworthy geological statement.
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The Climate
Ara’s location within the Marlborough region is one of the sunniest and driest areas in New Zealand. A rare combination of long dry summers, mild sunny days and cool clear nights provides perfect conditions for the production of ripe, intensely flavoured fruits of many varieties.
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The Geology
The Ara terrace, bordered by rivers on three sides and steep hills to the West, comprises deep glacial outwash shingle deposits overlaid with finer alluvial or loess material. A single landform that dates back some 20,000 years to the Otira Glaciation, the 1600 hectare terrace is a unique geological feature in New Zealand.
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The Soil
The soils that have formed at Ara are considerably older than most of the surrounding plains in Marlborough. Due to age and weathering, the soils at Ara have a relatively high content of clay and fine material in the subsoil. The result is a free draining soil profile with good water holding capacity comparable to soils found in Graves and Médoc in Bordeaux and much of the Rhône Valley.
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Iwi
Early settlers of the northern half of the South Island were the Rangitane tribe, which settled the greater Wellington area down to the top of the South Island.
Rangitāne history can be traced back over 25 generations to the arrival of Whātonga, one of the captains of the Kurahaupō waka (canoe). The tribe take their name from Whātonga’s grandson, Rangitāne.
The descendants of the Kurahaupō eventually spread out to settle most of the lower-half of the North Island, later travelling south to occupy the Wairau area in the South Island, where Ara now lies, among other places
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Bankhouse
In the mid 1840s, the land that is now known as Ara was a sheep station called Bankhouse, leased in 1847 from the Crown.
One of the earliest settled properties in the region, it was named by one of its first residents, James Balfour Wemyss, after a property of the same name owned by his family in Scotland.
The station was developed in the 1840s by Sir David Monro, who went on to become New Zealand Parliament’s speaker from 1861-70. In 1848, Dr. David Monro, as he was then, plus five men and two horses, drove 1000 merino sheep purchased in Australia from Nelson to Bankhouse.
Three houses have been built on the land: a mud house erected by James Wemyss, then a cottage on the banks of the Waihopai River, burnt down in 1886, then the homestead that stands on the site today, which was built in 1887.
In 1915, merino wool produced at Bankhouse won a gold medal in San Francisco and had further success in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The same year, the land was divided into three for David Monro’s grandsons, later to become the Shield family.
Much of the Bankhouse property was placed on the market in November 1999, with the potential to become a significant vineyard.
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Sir David Monro
David Monro was the son of Dr Alexander Monro, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, and President of the College of Physicians. His own degree of Doctor of Medicine was taken in that University.
One of the original Nelson settlers, Monro arrived in New Zealand in 1842. He took an active part in the political development not only of the Nelson Province but of the colony as a whole.
He was elected to New Zealand’s first Parliament of 1854 as the member for Waimea district. He served for the first two Parliaments, then succeeded Sir Charles Clifford as Speaker in 1861. He occupied the Chair through six changes of government, and was knighted in 1866. Though few of his rulings still survive in their original form, many have been absorbed into the traditions of New Zealand’s Parliament.
Monro resigned the Speakership at the end of the 1870 session, and lost his seat at the 1871 election for the electorate of Motueka. He was elected as member for Waikouaiti in June 1872, but resigned after a year because of failing health. He died on 15 February 1877.
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A short regional history
~1000AD |
First Polynesian settlers arrive |
1642 |
Abel Tasman spends a week in Cook Strait |
1770 |
Captain James Cook makes his first visit to the Marlborough Sounds |
1826 |
Captain John Guard establishes a whaling station at Cloudy Bay |
1828 |
Te Rauparaha captures pa at Kaikoura |
1829 |
Colonel Edward Wakefield of the New Zealand Company arrives to begin a survey for subsequent colonisation |
1840 |
British sovereignty proclaimed over the South Island |
1843 |
“The Wairau Incident” occurs as a result of conflict over land |
1850 |
Blenheim founded |
1865 |
Blenheim becomes provincial capital |
1973 |
First commercial vineyard planting |
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