February 2025

If you’re in search of wines that offer an authentic expression of Central Otago’s unique terroir, Moko Hills should be on your radar. Located in the Bendigo subregion, Moko Hills produces under 140 cases of each wine, including Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and a sub-label, Kakano Pinot Noir. These wines are carefully crafted by winemaker and viticulturist Donald van der Westhuizen, who brings a blend of scientific insight and artistic interpretation to his winemaking. In this article, we dive into a recent interview with Donald, where he shares his journey, philosophy, and vision for Moko Hills.

February 2025

4 February 2025

This week, our focus is entirely on chardonnay. One can get very philosophical about the variety as witnessed at the 2024 Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium where sense of place was delved into deeply. But from a drinkers’ perspective, there are perhaps three things that matter; the price to quality ratio, wine style, and age-ability. Even within these three rather narrow areas, there is quite a lot of diversity—both in range and in points of view.

28 January 2025

Once a year, the Central Otago Winegrowers Association brings a small group of reviewers and writers to the region for two days to review current releases.

Since 2023, the tasting has consisted entirely of chardonnay and pinot noir. In its current form, it was proposed by Jane Skilton MW. We were joined this year by two other writers, Jo Burzynska and John Saker. The wines are all tasted blind and organised by subregion—although the subregions themselves are not revealed. The tasting venue is MacNulty House, a heritage cottage in a historic part of Cromwell, providing us four tasters ample room to taste sections in peace and contemplation. It is a well-organised tasting event and a good opportunity to look at the region’s chardonnay and pinot noir wines in a holistic way.

6 December 2024

A rare and exciting opportunity to taste through many of the Spring release wines from Bannockburn, Bendigo, Gibbston, Pisa, Queensbury and Wanaka took place on November 29th.

6 June 2024

10 April 2024

When Donald van der Westhuizen was studying ecology at university, his father urged him to switch to viticulture.

“I used to say, ‘mate, you are dreaming. We are never going to have vineyard.'” It turns out his father was right, Donald admits, walking through Moko Hills vineyard 15 years later, talking of chickens, truffles, geckos and vines on this unique 40-hectare Bendigo block in the foothills of the Dunstan Range.

Read More..

August 2023

May 2023

We have been stocking the wines of Central Otago Producer: Moko Hills for a few months now.

Why feature Moko Hills? And what makes them so special and different to many of the other producers in the region?

Well, for us, it is the embodiment of a story and passion, and, the liquid within the package is outstanding – The Total Package!

I was instantly drawn to these wines when I first started at Cahn’s last October

November 2022

2021 Moko Hills Chardonnay
Cool climate citrus aromas of lemons and lemon zest with high but balanced acidity adding length to the body of the wine. Tight focus with great length of flavour that lingers with every sip. Very good quality with lively depth and layers of flavour from stonefruit nectarines to citrus.

Read full article written by Joelle Thomson here.

September 2022

I often get asked, “What’s good you’ve tasted lately?” Moko Hills come to my mind for the right reasons. Something special about these wines, they show some of the prettiest expressions of Bendigo and are captivating.

Moko Hills wins a medal for each of their wines at the 2022 New Zealand International Wine Awards.

Gold – Moko Hills 2020 Chardonnay

Silver – Kakano 2021 Pinot Noir

Bronze – Moko Hills 2020 Pinot Noir