General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Under the Vines

Under the Vines is a New Zealand romantic comedy-drama television series created by Erin White, in which a Sydney socialite and a London lawyer who despise each other inherit a failing Central Otago vineyard jointly and must run it together. It was commissioned by AMC Networks' Acorn TV and the New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ, produced by Libertine Pictures and EQ Media Group, and ran for three six-episode seasons between 2021 and 2024.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	Romantic comedy drama, six 60-minute episodes per season, three seasons (2021–2024)²^•³
Leads	Rebecca Gibney as Daisy Munroe, a Sydney socialite; Charles Edwards as Louis Oakley, a UK-born lawyer¹
Setting	Oakley Wines, a vineyard in New Zealand's Central Otago wine region⁴
Broadcasters	Acorn TV (worldwide except New Zealand) and TVNZ (New Zealand)¹
Season 1 premiere	6 December 2021 on Acorn TV; TVNZ 1 broadcast early 2022²^•⁵
Later seasons	Season 2 launched 23 January 2023; season 3 premiered 19 August 2024⁶^•³
Status	Ended after season 3; final episode "To Have and to Hold" aired 16 September 2024⁷

Spoilers

Premise

Daisy Munroe, a single Sydney socialite whose monthly allowance from her estranged, recently deceased stepfather has dried up, travels to his New Zealand vineyard intending to sell it quickly. She does not know the property has a co-owner: Louis Oakley, a grumpy UK-born lawyer who inherited his share after his uncle's death and has come to New Zealand to escape a spiralling series of misfortunes. Each believes themselves the sole heir of Stanley, the late owner. Neither has done a hard day's work, and each despises the other, but to sell up and leave they must first make the vineyard, Oakley Wines, a success.¹^•⁸

The supporting ensemble includes Sarah Peirse and John Bach as the rival winery owners Marissa and Don Silverton, Trae Te Wiki as the winemaker Tippy, Simon Mead as Gus, and, across the run, Dean O'Gorman, Sara Wiseman, Cohen Holloway, Catherine Wilkin, Robbie Magasiva, Carrie Green, Matt Whelan, Kirk Torrance, Amanda Billing and Mark Mitchinson. Cohen Holloway played Vic Grimes in seasons 1 and 2, with Allan Henry taking the role in season 3.¹^•⁹

Seasons

Season 1 was commissioned in December 2020 and premiered on Acorn TV on 6 December 2021 in the US, Canada and Australia, with a UK release in January 2022 and a primetime TVNZ 1 broadcast in early 2022.¹^•¹⁰ Acorn TV and TVNZ renewed the series on 10 December 2021, before the first season had aired in New Zealand. Season 2 introduced producer Paul Yates, fresh from Wellington Paranormal, and directors Josh Frizzell and Katie Wolfe; it launched exclusively on Acorn TV in the US and UK on 23 January 2023.⁵^•⁶

Season 3 was commissioned in October 2023 with production already underway in Queenstown and Central Otago. Erin White directed episodes 1–3 and Laurence Wilson episodes 4–6, from scripts by Kelly Lefever, Erin White, Nick Ward, Kathryn Burnett, Harry McNaughton and Steph Matuku. The season, set six months after season 2, centers on Daisy and Louis's attempt to oust William (Mark Mitchinson), a shanty-singing stranger who arrived at the end of season 2 claiming half of Oakley under an enforceable IOU from Stanley's gambling days, and builds to Daisy's wedding. Acorn TV released two episodes on 19 August 2024 and the finale on 16 September 2024.¹¹^•³^•¹²^•⁷

Production and filming

The series is shot in the Central Otago wine region of the South Island. Season 1 filmed in Alexandra, Earnscleugh-Clyde, Gibbston and briefly Dunedin, with principal photography running from 9 February to 20 April 2021.¹³ Rebecca Gibney, who also serves as an executive producer, said the script was originally written for Australia and that she asked for it to be shot in New Zealand; the crew was split roughly 50:50 between local and overseas crew.¹⁴ Producer Carmen J Leonard described the choice to hire locally as a deliberate contribution to the regional industry.¹⁴

Each season's shoot lasted about ten weeks, or 50 shoot days, with roughly three weeks in and around Queenstown and seven weeks at the hero vineyard, Black Ridge Winery outside Clyde.¹⁵ The production received New Zealand Screen Production Rebate support: season 2 recorded a final qualified spend of NZ$9,845,297 with a rebate of NZ$3,938,119, and series 3 recorded an interim qualified spend of NZ$8,720,116 with NZ$3,488,046 rebated.¹⁶

Cinematographer David Paul NZCS shot all episodes of all three seasons and won Best Cinematography in the AUS/NZ region at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2023 for season 2, with a Silver Award at the NZCS Cinematography Awards 2025 for season 3, episode 4.¹⁷

Reception and availability

TVNZ reported that more than 130,000 New Zealanders watched the series after its January 2022 launch on the broadcaster.¹⁸ The Otago Daily Times framed the renewal as a boost to Central Otago's growing profile as a filming location.¹³ On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the series holds a 94% average audience score, with fewer than 50 ratings submitted.¹⁹

The complete series streams on Acorn TV and its Amazon and Apple TV channels, and is available for purchase on Amazon Video, Apple TV and Fandango; in New Zealand it streams on TVNZ+, and it later became available on BBC iPlayer.²⁰^•⁶

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Miniseries and anthology series

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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