Richard Brimer worked his first vintage to save money for a camera, having left school at 15 to do a photography apprenticeship.
Pinot Gris is the fourth most planted grape in New Zealand, with 2,593 hectares nationwide, up from 157ha in 2001.
Denis Marshall has worn plenty of hats throughout his working life, but his plea to the wine industry has required a one-size-fits-all.
Scout sources fruit from two wine territories – the South Island and South Australia - to create small batch wines.
Wine has been a supporting act in much of Sophie Parker-Thomson’s life, but the Master of Wine credits a dinner out in Dunedin as making it centre stage.
Growing up on a Pukekohe lifestyle block, a young Matt Lancaster loved watching big tractors drive past.
Marlburians Jules Taylor and Ben Glover, and North Canterbury winegrowing couple Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen, took out the titles in Gourmet Traveller Wine’s 2021 New Zealand Awards.
Getting science to work in the field requires some give and take, says Bragato Research Institute viticulture extension and research manager Len Ibbotson.
From studying banana plantlets in Cameroon to barley in Australia, Paul Epee has long been fascinated by agriculture and improving production.
Misha Wilkinson grew up with the Australian Opera, sitting in her mother’s dressing room, or poised at the edge of the curtain as Gloria McDonall performed.
Not a day goes by that Awatere Valley grape grower Andy Peter doesn’t think fondly of his father, who firmly believed in succession.
“We have an expression that unless you have dirt under your fingernails, you’ll never know how to grow a vine,” says James Millton from his eponymous Gisborne vineyard.
Succession plans are all very good and well, but it's important that people are the "right fit" when it comes to taking on responsibilities, says Jane Hunter.
Christine and Dave Macdonald admit it was a romantic whim to name Bladen for their children Blair and Deni.
Sam and Mandy Weaver always hoped their sons Jack and Ben would join them at Churton.
Succession is one of the biggest challenges faced by family businesses, including those in wine, says WK Business Advisor Hamish Morrow. “Often, starting the conversation is the hardest aspect.”
Pull the thread of family succession at Rippon, and you’ll find yourself at Wānaka Station in 1912, with its new owner Percy Sargood. Follow it even further, to 1895, and you’ll find the enterprising Dunedin merchant at a seminar given by viticulturist Romeo Bragato, perhaps seeding the idea of wine in the arid climes of Central Otago.
Arabella Waghorn once felt awkward about joining the family business in Marlborough, suspecting people would consider her a “spoilt brat”.
Sustainability measures have become part of the WineWorks culture, says Anthony Barnes, in a series celebrating Sustainability Guardians.
When Rylee Adams drove a gondola in the 2020 vintage, she was more interested in the cadence of the motor than the surrounding vines.
More than any other single person, Frank Yukich changed our sector to the internationally respected force it is today.
Growing great grapevines is a complex business, says New Zealand’s 2020 Corteva Young Viticulturist of the Year.
Ben Tombs grew up surrounded by Marlborough vines, but says his career in wine began “purely by luck”.
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