Mt. Beautiful's properties may be on New Zealand's South Island but we have a sales and marketing team in the U.S. that is passionate about the brand and and also an active bunch! 

With our U.S. office located in the San Francisco Bay Area, within close proximity to Sonoma and Napa wine countries where a couple "Destination Races" take hold, includiing the popular Healdsburg Half Marathon, we saw a natural tie-in to creating a U.S. running team aptly named the South Pacific Pacers.

Suzanna Mannion, our Marketing Manager organized the running team in 2017 for the Healdsburg Half Marathon however wildfires canceled the event that year. The team reformed in 2018 and successfully completed the event with 10 "pacers" (i.e. runners) in addition to our Western U.S. Sales Manager Tiffany Tonnerre and Executive Administrator Maura Sullivan who staffed what proved to be a very popular post-race tasting station at the finish line! 

As much fun as running 13.1 miles was had by all the participants and it looks like the South Pacific Pacers will be making a comeback to the Healdsburg Half for years to come, and will hopefully grow our team as the years go by. 

Capital Gazette, Patrick Darr and Tom Marquardt

"Far be it from us to tell you what you should like in wine. We may be able to tell you what is a good wine, but we can’t determine what is a good wine to you.

We can tell you, for instance, many cheap, jammy and sweet wines are not good wines. But, if you like them, who are we to say you shouldn’t?

So, call us frustrated that these extracted wines are flooding the market and attracting consumers who haven’t the desire to ponder something more balanced. While serious winemakers have been refining their wines for centuries, others have come along to mask defects with a load of sugar.

We get it. There are no rules, right?

“Once you ripen wine to almost a raisin quality, you lose a little varietal character, especially with cabernet sauvignon,” said Jay Turnipseed winemaker at the Rutherford Wine Co.

He said an over-extracted cabernet loses its red currant flavors, picks up more dark cherry and plum character and sheds some the tannins that give it ageability.

He doesn't take issue with producers who make these riper wines if it's appropriate for their business. While some winemakers base their reputation on complex and age-worthy cabernet sauvignon, others look for fast sales from ripe, sweet zinfandel blends.

If you like your red wine fruity and forward, here are some to discover:"

Among the six "Wine Picks" they feature our 2016 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir!

"Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir North Canterbury 2016 ($30). This is another notable pinot noir from New Zealand where their pinot noirs are deservedly becoming better known. Deep dark and rich black cherry flavors are dominant in this bold pinot noir. It would do well with beef dishes."