Three Fates is the winegrowing and winemaking project of Holly Girven Russell, Hester Nesbitt, and Casey Motley.
In June 2020 the group took on the farming of a small hillside vineyard in Maraekakaho, Hawke's Bay. With fruit quality and vine health as the focus, they were delighted to have a brilliant growing season for their debut. All three have spent years chasing the sun; following ripening fruit to cellars across the world from California to Burgundy, England to Canada, Austria to the Northern Rhone, and a few pit stops in Australia and New Zealand.
They've seen winemaking on all sorts of scales, but are united in their approach to focus on careful, gentle winemaking. Respect is shown to the fruit, letting the grapes show themselves through fermentation and into the bottle with little intervention necessary along the way.Outside the winery, the Three Fates team has a mutual interest in food, travel, and culture. There's always a holiday being planned, an art gallery to visit, a music festival to attend, and a laundry list of restaurants to try or recipes to cook.
Three Fates wines are made to be enjoyed in good company over a delicious meal.
Three Fates began as a vineyard project in early 2020, working with the hillside block on the Noetzli Family Vineyard in Maraekakaho, Hawke's Bay.
The sunny site was planted in 2007 and is home to Arneis, Albariño, Cabernet Franc, and just a splash of Syrah. Almost the last vineyard in Hawke's Bay as you head south along State Highway 50, it is not influenced by the coastal sea breeze and is largely protected from rainfall by the Ruahine Ranges. The days are long and warm, allowing a really gentle and slow ripening with little disease pressure. Sitting about 100m elevation, as well as providing a great workout, the slopes give a natural protection from light frosts and work to restrict the vigour of the vine, concentrating grape flavours. A day spent on the hillside is one full of beauty.
In 2022 Three Fates expanded the range with grapes from two new sites in the Gimblett Gravels and Bridge Pa triangle which were managed by Bridget Wilton, a local legend growing some of the best fruit in the country.
In Greek Mythology the Three Fates, or Moirai, were the incarnations of destiny.
They controlled the mother thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. They were independent, at the helm of necessity, directed fate, and watched that the fate assigned to every being by eternal laws might take its course without obstruction. Clotho (spinner) spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle, Lachesis (allotter) measured the thread of life allotted to each person with her measuring rod, Atropos (inevitable) was the cutter of the thread of life. She chose the manner of each person's death; and when their time was come, she cut their life-thread with her shears.
We embody the Morai as we bring the dormant vineyard to life in spring and weave our way through the season until the thread is cut and our vinous bounty becomes wine. Salut!