Known Unknown Vintage 2021
By Jules van Costello
PledgeMe.Project
Food,
NZ $11,713 pledged
90 people pledged
Closed
NZ $5,000 minimum target
This campaign was successful and closed on 29/03/2021 at 5:00 PM.
Make a PledgeAbout
Known Unknown Vintage 2021
Project 2021-02-22 16:50:05 +1300
Our story so far
We started Te Aro Wine three years ago with a mission… to make fun wine, not fine wine. And we’re super proud of what we’ve achieved so far. This said, 2020 was a challenging year… especially for a business that is both a hospitality business AND one that sells wine to other hospitality businesses. Leading up to the 2021 vintage we’ve had to make some big decisions around the future of the winery, and one of those is to move our production out of Wellington. In 2021 we’re going to be making wine and cider headquartered in Taranaki. Since we’re no longer going to be Wellington-based we need a new name… so Te Aro Wine is now KNOWN UNKNOWN.
We super excited about our new brand – check out some of our labels for wines that will be available very soon!
The future is known… but unknown…
We still want to make delicious, organically grown, naturally-made wine at approachable price points. Vintage kicks off next week (or is already going ahead full steam depending on when you read this…) and we are scaling up production this year. That’s where you come in! We’re looking to raise $5000 to fund additional organic grapes to make even more wine than we ever have before!
Get awesome rewards by supporting us!
We’ve put together an amazing range of rewards including exclusive experiences, current and future wines and an exclusive supporters-only Syrah Magnum! If you back our Pledge Me, you’ll get an invitation to one of our wine release parties in New Plymouth, Wellington and Auckland held in February and September. Check out the rewards section to find out what you can get by supporting us!
On top of that, if you pledge over $100, you get 10% off all Known Unknown orders for a year (online only until our new Wine Room opens in New Plymouth in October), your name on the supporter's wall, a tote bag, and the option to buy additional Supporters Magnums up to a total of 100 magnums.
Join us on our exciting wine-making journey!
Stretch Goals: Known Unknown Ciders
Because we hit our goal so quickly, we're unlocking stretch goals and it's all about cider! Now, if we get to $10,000, all Pledge Me supporters who have pledged over $50 will also get a voucher for a free cider or wine when our wine room opens in late 2021.
Licence No: 49D/ON/31/2020. By ordering any of these rewards you declare that you are 18 years or over. Please note, proof of ID will be required before despatching any rewards with alcohol. All rewards include shipping where applicable.
Comments
Updates 5
A spanner in the works...
25/03/2021 at 10:32 AM
Kia ora tātou!
Thank you for all your support this week and for our PledgeMe! We are really excited about the wines we are making this vintage – thank you for your help in making it all happen so far!
For those that don’t know, Jules was involved in a serious car accident on SH1 on Tuesday afternoon which has changed our plans for vintage somewhat. We only had one last parcel of grapes left to pick this vintage, Syrah from Hawkes Bay. Thankfully, we’ve been able to team up with the grower and winemaker Pieter Koopman who is going to ferment the wines in Hawkes Bay for us in the next few days. At some stage in April we’ll have them transferred to the winery and finished here in New Plymouth.
All of this adds some significant costs to our production so getting the PledgeMe over $15,000 is now more important than ever! Please tell everyone you know about our little project so we can keep moving. In other news we’ve postponed the final Wellington event for obvious reasons. We are planning on something in late April or May to say Haere rā to the Windy City!
Thank you so much for all the support we have received so far. It’s been a tough week but we are thrilled with how the wines are tasting. Please get the word out about our PledgeMe so we can still make Known Unknown’s first vintage a success.
Lauren and Jules
Vintage Update #3
21/03/2021 at 6:01 PM
Vintage Helpers
A massive thank you to all of our new vintage helpers this year: Mark, Kate et al, Joel and especially Peter who has been there to help whenever we needed it. THANK YOU.
Vintage Update #2
15/03/2021 at 5:45 PM
PledgeMe Update
First off, huge thanks again for all your support! We're currently at $9,328 - almost twice our initial target! We’re only $672 short of our stretch goal of $10,000 where y'all get a wine or cider on us if you've pledged $50 or more.
Special thanks to Gatherer Whole Foods and Moiety who have both chipped in $1500 to have their very own Known Unknown wine made for their restaurants this year. This reward also makes an awesome unique corporate gift – please spread the word if you know of any real estate agents here in New Plymouth who want something really special to give their clients.
Party Time
At the end of the month we're gonna be saying goodbye to Te Aro Wine and we're going out with a bang hosting the Last (Te Aro Wine) Vintage Party on Earth in Wellington. Tickets are $25 and include food, wine, music from DJ Apa Hutt so if you're free (and in Wellington) join us or invite yor mates on facebook!
Gamay All Day
Yesterday Jules drove round trip to Hawkes Bay to pick up 1 tonne of Gamay grapes from Lucknow Estate for our next lot of wines. For those that don't know, Gamay is one of our favourite varieties and is native to Beaujoalis where it makes juicy, light, fresh, smashable reds. YUM! Known Unknown is going to be one of only a small number of producers in Aotearoa New Zealand making wine with this amazing variety in 2021.
We're making three different wines to blend together and ultimately produce our Gamay that will be released later this year:
-A traditional carbonic ferment where we cover whole grapes with carbon dioxide (syphoned off another ferment) which should give the grapes thier classic juicy, fruity, lifted notes.
-We've also destemmed 250kg into one of our egg fermenters to give the wine some backbone and structure... this will probably macerate for at least three months.
-One bin of whole bunch, foot-stomped goodness.
What’s happening next?
Vintage is far from over for us - Jules is off to Hawkes Bay again today(!) to pick up some Pinot Gris that is being picked on Tuesday. We'll be using the Pinot Gris to make a pretty classic, dry Grigio style as well as using the juice for pet nat ferments in May and June.
Great to have you along for the ride! Let the wine lover in your life know about our PledgeMe to help us reach our stretch goal and get the word out about New Plymouth’s new urban winery!
Cheers Jules and Lauren
We've hit $5k AND Cider Stretch Goals!
08/03/2021 at 10:46 AM
Because we hit our goal so quickly, we're unlocking stretch goals and it's all about cider! Now, if we get to $10,000, all Pledge Me supporters who have pledged over $50 will also get a voucher for a free cider when our wine room opens in late 2021.
Vintage Update #1
04/03/2021 at 10:25 AM
First off, thank you for all your support - we're now at almost 60% of our funding goal after less than a week! That’s incredible, thank you! Please share with any of the wine lovers in your life, especially those in New Plymouth.
Here's a quick vintage update... On Tuesday we managed to pick our first little parcel of fruit, 800kg of stunning Chardonnay from Eskdale, just north of Napier. It was pressed in Hastings (our little press hasn't arrived yet) and we drove the resulting grape juice from Hastings to New Plymouth (the Saddle Road was the most nerve racking). It's now settled away in two of our egg fermenters to make Egg Nat, which is aged on lees and will be bottled with frozen juice later in the year. This year’s Egg Nat is an evolution of this wine – it has been made with Sauvignon Blanc in past years but we think Chardonnay will lend itself better to this more complex style).
We’ll let you know more about our wines as vintage progresses, these are exciting and busy times!
Pledgers 90
29/03/2021 at 4:35pm
"looking forward to catching up with the all well & healthy staff at the winding up party night "
29/03/2021 at 1:00pm
29/03/2021 at 12:05pm
"What a harvest Jules!"
28/03/2021 at 8:28pm
28/03/2021 at 4:36pm
28/03/2021 at 3:43pm
28/03/2021 at 3:25pm
28/03/2021 at 1:41pm
"Sounds like its all worth the effort!"
28/03/2021 at 1:33pm
28/03/2021 at 11:55am
28/03/2021 at 11:54am
28/03/2021 at 11:16am
28/03/2021 at 10:19am
"❤🍷❤"
28/03/2021 at 8:17am
26/03/2021 at 9:56am
25/03/2021 at 9:10pm
25/03/2021 at 11:48am
25/03/2021 at 11:42am
"Get well soon Jules - Cheers, JB, NZ Wine Directory"
25/03/2021 at 11:09am
21/03/2021 at 7:31pm
20/03/2021 at 5:54pm
19/03/2021 at 5:05pm
"With love."
19/03/2021 at 9:09am
"Look forward to checking out the new place in September hopefully! "
17/03/2021 at 10:48pm
17/03/2021 at 10:47pm
17/03/2021 at 2:43pm
17/03/2021 at 11:08am
17/03/2021 at 11:07am
17/03/2021 at 11:04am
17/03/2021 at 11:03am
Followers
Followers of Known Unknown Vintage 2021
Known Unknown Vintage 2021
Project 2021-02-22 16:50:05 +1300
Our story so far
We started Te Aro Wine three years ago with a mission… to make fun wine, not fine wine. And we’re super proud of what we’ve achieved so far. This said, 2020 was a challenging year… especially for a business that is both a hospitality business AND one that sells wine to other hospitality businesses. Leading up to the 2021 vintage we’ve had to make some big decisions around the future of the winery, and one of those is to move our production out of Wellington. In 2021 we’re going to be making wine and cider headquartered in Taranaki. Since we’re no longer going to be Wellington-based we need a new name… so Te Aro Wine is now KNOWN UNKNOWN.
We super excited about our new brand – check out some of our labels for wines that will be available very soon!
The future is known… but unknown…
We still want to make delicious, organically grown, naturally-made wine at approachable price points. Vintage kicks off next week (or is already going ahead full steam depending on when you read this…) and we are scaling up production this year. That’s where you come in! We’re looking to raise $5000 to fund additional organic grapes to make even more wine than we ever have before!
Get awesome rewards by supporting us!
We’ve put together an amazing range of rewards including exclusive experiences, current and future wines and an exclusive supporters-only Syrah Magnum! If you back our Pledge Me, you’ll get an invitation to one of our wine release parties in New Plymouth, Wellington and Auckland held in February and September. Check out the rewards section to find out what you can get by supporting us!
On top of that, if you pledge over $100, you get 10% off all Known Unknown orders for a year (online only until our new Wine Room opens in New Plymouth in October), your name on the supporter's wall, a tote bag, and the option to buy additional Supporters Magnums up to a total of 100 magnums.
Join us on our exciting wine-making journey!
Stretch Goals: Known Unknown Ciders
Because we hit our goal so quickly, we're unlocking stretch goals and it's all about cider! Now, if we get to $10,000, all Pledge Me supporters who have pledged over $50 will also get a voucher for a free cider or wine when our wine room opens in late 2021.
Licence No: 49D/ON/31/2020. By ordering any of these rewards you declare that you are 18 years or over. Please note, proof of ID will be required before despatching any rewards with alcohol. All rewards include shipping where applicable.
Comments
A spanner in the works...
25/03/2021 at 10:32 AM
Kia ora tātou!
Thank you for all your support this week and for our PledgeMe! We are really excited about the wines we are making this vintage – thank you for your help in making it all happen so far!
For those that don’t know, Jules was involved in a serious car accident on SH1 on Tuesday afternoon which has changed our plans for vintage somewhat. We only had one last parcel of grapes left to pick this vintage, Syrah from Hawkes Bay. Thankfully, we’ve been able to team up with the grower and winemaker Pieter Koopman who is going to ferment the wines in Hawkes Bay for us in the next few days. At some stage in April we’ll have them transferred to the winery and finished here in New Plymouth.
All of this adds some significant costs to our production so getting the PledgeMe over $15,000 is now more important than ever! Please tell everyone you know about our little project so we can keep moving. In other news we’ve postponed the final Wellington event for obvious reasons. We are planning on something in late April or May to say Haere rā to the Windy City!
Thank you so much for all the support we have received so far. It’s been a tough week but we are thrilled with how the wines are tasting. Please get the word out about our PledgeMe so we can still make Known Unknown’s first vintage a success.
Lauren and Jules
Vintage Update #3
21/03/2021 at 6:01 PM
Vintage Helpers
A massive thank you to all of our new vintage helpers this year: Mark, Kate et al, Joel and especially Peter who has been there to help whenever we needed it. THANK YOU.
Vintage Update #2
15/03/2021 at 5:45 PM
PledgeMe Update
First off, huge thanks again for all your support! We're currently at $9,328 - almost twice our initial target! We’re only $672 short of our stretch goal of $10,000 where y'all get a wine or cider on us if you've pledged $50 or more.
Special thanks to Gatherer Whole Foods and Moiety who have both chipped in $1500 to have their very own Known Unknown wine made for their restaurants this year. This reward also makes an awesome unique corporate gift – please spread the word if you know of any real estate agents here in New Plymouth who want something really special to give their clients.
Party Time
At the end of the month we're gonna be saying goodbye to Te Aro Wine and we're going out with a bang hosting the Last (Te Aro Wine) Vintage Party on Earth in Wellington. Tickets are $25 and include food, wine, music from DJ Apa Hutt so if you're free (and in Wellington) join us or invite yor mates on facebook!
Gamay All Day
Yesterday Jules drove round trip to Hawkes Bay to pick up 1 tonne of Gamay grapes from Lucknow Estate for our next lot of wines. For those that don't know, Gamay is one of our favourite varieties and is native to Beaujoalis where it makes juicy, light, fresh, smashable reds. YUM! Known Unknown is going to be one of only a small number of producers in Aotearoa New Zealand making wine with this amazing variety in 2021.
We're making three different wines to blend together and ultimately produce our Gamay that will be released later this year:
-A traditional carbonic ferment where we cover whole grapes with carbon dioxide (syphoned off another ferment) which should give the grapes thier classic juicy, fruity, lifted notes.
-We've also destemmed 250kg into one of our egg fermenters to give the wine some backbone and structure... this will probably macerate for at least three months.
-One bin of whole bunch, foot-stomped goodness.
What’s happening next?
Vintage is far from over for us - Jules is off to Hawkes Bay again today(!) to pick up some Pinot Gris that is being picked on Tuesday. We'll be using the Pinot Gris to make a pretty classic, dry Grigio style as well as using the juice for pet nat ferments in May and June.
Great to have you along for the ride! Let the wine lover in your life know about our PledgeMe to help us reach our stretch goal and get the word out about New Plymouth’s new urban winery!
Cheers Jules and Lauren
We've hit $5k AND Cider Stretch Goals!
08/03/2021 at 10:46 AM
Because we hit our goal so quickly, we're unlocking stretch goals and it's all about cider! Now, if we get to $10,000, all Pledge Me supporters who have pledged over $50 will also get a voucher for a free cider when our wine room opens in late 2021.
Vintage Update #1
04/03/2021 at 10:25 AM
First off, thank you for all your support - we're now at almost 60% of our funding goal after less than a week! That’s incredible, thank you! Please share with any of the wine lovers in your life, especially those in New Plymouth.
Here's a quick vintage update... On Tuesday we managed to pick our first little parcel of fruit, 800kg of stunning Chardonnay from Eskdale, just north of Napier. It was pressed in Hastings (our little press hasn't arrived yet) and we drove the resulting grape juice from Hastings to New Plymouth (the Saddle Road was the most nerve racking). It's now settled away in two of our egg fermenters to make Egg Nat, which is aged on lees and will be bottled with frozen juice later in the year. This year’s Egg Nat is an evolution of this wine – it has been made with Sauvignon Blanc in past years but we think Chardonnay will lend itself better to this more complex style).
We’ll let you know more about our wines as vintage progresses, these are exciting and busy times!
29/03/2021 at 4:35pm
"looking forward to catching up with the all well & healthy staff at the winding up party night "
29/03/2021 at 1:00pm
29/03/2021 at 12:05pm
"What a harvest Jules!"
28/03/2021 at 8:28pm
28/03/2021 at 4:36pm
28/03/2021 at 3:43pm
28/03/2021 at 3:25pm
28/03/2021 at 1:41pm
"Sounds like its all worth the effort!"
28/03/2021 at 1:33pm
28/03/2021 at 11:55am
28/03/2021 at 11:54am
28/03/2021 at 11:16am
28/03/2021 at 10:19am
"❤🍷❤"
28/03/2021 at 8:17am
26/03/2021 at 9:56am
25/03/2021 at 9:10pm
25/03/2021 at 11:48am
25/03/2021 at 11:42am
"Get well soon Jules - Cheers, JB, NZ Wine Directory"
25/03/2021 at 11:09am
21/03/2021 at 7:31pm
20/03/2021 at 5:54pm
19/03/2021 at 5:05pm
"With love."
19/03/2021 at 9:09am
"Look forward to checking out the new place in September hopefully! "
17/03/2021 at 10:48pm
17/03/2021 at 10:47pm
17/03/2021 at 2:43pm
17/03/2021 at 11:08am
17/03/2021 at 11:07am
17/03/2021 at 11:04am
17/03/2021 at 11:03am
Followers of Known Unknown Vintage 2021
I want to embed this project somewhere
