Corbans

The winery, headquartered in Auckland (North Island) in New Zealand, was founded by Assid Abraham Corban (d. 1941), a former stonemason who immigrated from Lebanon. The latter had dabbled in various jobs for ten years. In 1902, he bought four acres of land in the Henderson region for 320 pounds and planted vines. This became his destiny, for he showed himself to be a real natural at viticulture. The company expanded over the years by buying more wineries. The Corban Group was first acquired by a brewing multinational, then bought by the Australian wine multinational Montana Wines in 2000, the latter was taken over by the British multinational Allied Domecq in 2001, and the latter was finally bought by the French multinational Pernod Ricard in 2005. The vineyards cover 220 hectares of vines. They are planted with over 20 different varieties, the most important being Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Merlot, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and Shiraz. There are four major wineries in the cities of Auckland, Blenheim, Gisborne and Napier. Bulk varieties are bought in from contract winemakers, from which large quantities of bag-in-box wines are produced. The wines are marketed under numerous brand names. Under the "Corbans" label, wines are marketed in four lines: White Label, Homestead, Private Bin and Cottage Block.