Winemaker
Stephanie Henderson-Grant
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Amberley, New Zealand
i. Biography
Stephanie Henderson-Grant makes wine in Waipara Valley through Ataahua Wines in Amberley, New Zealand, where the work stays close to the ground: in the rows, in the cellar, and in the daily discipline of keeping a small-batch producer moving. As owner of Ataahua Wines and Managing Director of Ataahua Wines Limited, she has built a practice that reads as direct rather than decorative. Her description of Ataahua Wines — “Ataahua a small-batch winery, led by yours truly, Stephanie Henderson-Grant” — lands like a maker’s mark: plainspoken, personal, and tied to the work itself.
The Climb
In the early part of her working life, the craft path had not yet narrowed to wine. Stephanie Henderson-Grant worked in the wool industry and sold wine for a local wine producer in New Zealand, two roles that sit on the practical edge of rural production and sales. Taken together, they point to the kind of experience that teaches how to handle a product, read a market, and stay grounded in the conditions that shape both. From there, the work tightened around grape growing and winemaking. That shift brought field work and cellar work into the same frame, with Waipara Valley as the setting and Ataahua Wines as the home base. The move into growing grapes and making wine at Ataahua Wines, alongside her roles as co-owner of Ataahua Wines Ltd and Managing Director of Ataahua Wines Limited, shows a progression built on continuity rather than reinvention.
Today
The practice at Ataahua Wines is anchored in Waipara Valley, where Stephanie Henderson-Grant grows grapes and makes wine with the continuity that comes from long attendance to one place. As Managing Director of Ataahua Wines Limited in New Zealand, she works from a position that ties business oversight to hands-on production, keeping the operation close to the vineyard and cellar rather than distant from them. “Enthusiastically assisted by my family, I’ve been growing grapes and making wine in the Waipara Valley for thirty years,” she says. The line is direct about duration, family involvement, and the accumulation of knowledge that comes from staying with a region long enough to understand its pace. It frames the work as sustained practice, not a passing role. “our commitment to what we do is enormous,” she adds, and the emphasis sits with the business as much as with the craft. Ataahua Wines appears here as a family-anchored producer shaped by repetition, responsibility, and the demands of making wine in one valley over time.
In Their Words “Enthusiastically assisted by my family, I’ve been growing grapes and making wine in the Waipara Valley for thirty years.”
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Stephanie
What is Stephanie Henderson-Grant's current role?
As of 2026, Stephanie Henderson-Grant is Winemaker and Owner of Ataahua Wines.
Where did Stephanie Henderson-Grant work before?
Stephanie Henderson-Grant's earlier career included local wine producer.
What recognition has Stephanie Henderson-Grant received?
Double Gold Sakura Award, Sakura Japan Women's Wine Awards (2024).
