Our Story
Poppy and Shayne Hammond, together with a small group of like-minded people, set out to forge their own direction in making wine, while remaining deeply connected to the traditions of the old world.
From their Martinborough vineyard, they create wines with tradition flowing through the glass. Fashions and fads may come and go, but they believe traditional wines carry an essence and romance that endures.
Staying true to style is at the heart of what they do. From one vintage to the next, there is always a family resemblance — wines that are unmistakably Poppies.
These are Martinborough wines made simply as Poppy and Shayne love to drink them.
We established Poppies Martinborough in 2012, opening our tasting room and Cellar Door in early November. It became the home of our wines and the only place to taste and purchase Poppies.
It soon became apparent that we had made one rather critical mistake — we had completely underestimated how much wine we would need. Most of our wines sold out within just a few months of opening the doors.
The years that followed became a scramble for more winery space and additional vineyard blocks, until in 2016 we had the opportunity to purchase a beautiful, established Martinborough vineyard and build a winery of our own.
The winery was designed with emotion rather than commercialism. Although production has grown to around 80 tonnes annually, Poppy still considers music and laughter an essential part of the winemaking process — ensuring the wines are forged with love rather than routine.
Growth at Poppies has always happened organically, rather than through grand strategic plans. Much of it has simply come from listening to our customers and allowing Poppies to evolve naturally.
What began as a Cellar Door-only winery in Martinborough grew, through continued requests from our devoted customers, to include mail order and online wine sales, followed by our Wine Club memberships and subscriptions — created as a way of rewarding the loyalty of those who have supported Poppies over the years.
Our wines remain deliberately hard to find beyond Poppies. By the bottle, Poppies wines can only be purchased directly from our Martinborough Cellar Door or through our online store.
You may, however, occasionally discover Poppies on the wine list at a small number of selected premium restaurants. What began with a conversation about wanting to enjoy our Rosé at a favourite restaurant led to a small allocation being made available to the on-licence trade through Dhall & Nash. Today, a very small amount of our Rosé and other wines finds its way into a handful of carefully selected restaurants.
The view is strong that we are simply caretakers of the land, from this we farm our vineyards with a minimalist approach in respecting the power Mother Nature possesses, never interfering more allowing her strength to direct. A personal love of the biological and organic approach to farming is the preference although not certified, within a commercial footprint we are cautious and respectful utilising science, technology and understanding the past. We live through our land for our wines
There is no set structure to what happens next other than our wines will always take priority
