Mills Reef : The Brand
The "Mills Reef" brand name has quite a story behind it.
The birth name of Mills Reef's founder and winemaker, Paddy Preston, is Warren Mills Preston. The name "Mills" passes from Paddy's great grandfather, Charles Mills, a sea captain who was also a gold-miner, later becoming a prominent Member of Parliament from 1890 - 1908, serving as NZ's Minister of Trade and Customs.
It came quite naturally to Paddy to name the winery in honour of his great-grandfather's life-time exploits and achievements, both watching for reefs at sea and mining for reefs of gold, hence the name "Mills Reef". Those same pioneering sentiments are shared today, a century later, in our efforts to pioneer New Zealand wines.
Whether Charles Mills found his reef we are not entirely certain, but Mills Reef has certainly found its reef in the steady stream of accolades and gold medal wines that have flowed forth since our first vintage in 1989.