Dr Richard Smart: Celebrating the legacy of the "world’s best-known viticulturist"

He was “the world’s best-known international viticulturist”, Jancis Robinson MW wrote after Richard died, surrounded by family, in early July.

Richard was made a 2025 New Zealand Winegrowers Fellow in January this year, recognising the long-term impact of his work. “New Zealand’s wine industry needs to recognise the very significant contribution that he has made to our understanding of quality grape production,” said Dr Mike Trought at that time, calling his friend and colleague “very much a visionary”.

Richard, who was New Zealand’s Government’s National Viticultural Scientist from 1982 to 1990, undertook countless research projects, achieved myriad qualifications, and published widely during six decades of work, including two doctorates, hundreds of peer-reviewed science and technical articles, and the publication of the highly acclaimed handbook Sunlight into Wine. He was New Zealand Wine Industry Personality of the Year in 1989, was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the New Zealand Society for Viticulture and Oenology in 1990, was named one of Decanter magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Names in Wine in 2005, and was inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame in 2007.

In a Winegrower Magazine profile in February this year, Richard said his biggest achievement was “to work with proprietors with open minds that were driven by profit motives and not some half-baked industry myths and beliefs”.

Richard said New Zealand wine’s “golden years” lasted until the early 21st century. Only a “few lucky” wine producing countries were likely to see such times again, and “New Zealand should be one of them”.

Speaking at his induction, an online event held on 22 January, Richard said working as New Zealand’s Government Viticultural Scientist was the professional highlight of his life, thanks in large part to the viticultural research accomplished and published during that time. “This was because I was able to work with such an impressive team of co-workers spread throughout the country.”

Read More:

• Jenny Dobson: From Burgundy to the Hawke's Bay
• Gwyn Williams: 30 years of NZ wine sustainability
• NZ Fellow: Dr Richard Smart

He said he felt “immense gratitude” for the opportunities, and the “exceptional individuals” he had worked with. “To the New Zealand Winegrowers, thank you for this incredible honour. It is a privilege to be recognised by an industry I hold so dear.”