Philip Gregan Named 2026 NZ Winegrowers Fellow

This year the shoe is on the other foot, as the industry recognises his 43 years of behind-the-scenes work to help grow and protect New Zealand wine.

Philip, who retired as NZW Chief Executive at the end of June, says being named alongside Sir Sam Neill, as well as Kevin Judd, Lynnette Hudson and Rex Sunde, is "pretty humbling", given "I don't grow grapes, and I don't make wine". But he acknowledges that it takes far more than the growing and making of wine to ensure a thriving industry.

Philip became Research Officer at the Wine Institute of New Zealand in 1983, when New Zealand had 92 wineries, 6,000 hectares of vineyards and a severe oversupply headache. A quarter of the country's vineyards were pulled out in the vine pull three years later, creating industry pain but also a fresh start, including plantings of the increasingly exciting Sauvignon Blanc.

In 1991, as the industry started to get a foothold in export markets, Philip became CEO of the Wine Institute of New Zealand. Then in 2002, when the Wine Institute and the New Zealand Grape Growers Council merged, he took the helm of NZW. Meanwhile, the industry grew rapidly, reaching 42,000ha of producing vineyards by 2025, with an export tally of $2.1 billion. It also embraced evolutions in sustainability and innovation, including the introduction of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand in the mid-1990s, and the adoption of screwcaps in the early 2000s. Behind the scenes, Philip and his team worked constantly with government, industry and export markets to help drive change and success.

His contribution to New Zealand wine is "immense" said NZW Board Chair Fabian Yukich when The Drinks Business gave Philip a Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year. "His hard work, integrity and collaborative approach have helped shape an industry that is globally respected for its quality, sustainability and innovation."

He's faced countless challenges over the decades, from balancing the expectations of growers and wine companies (large and small, family-owned and multinational, in good times and bad) to managing crises like the Kaikōura earthquake, Covid-19 and Cyclone Gabrielle. But reflecting on a four-decade wine career, Philip says he stayed because he enjoyed it. "It provided me with a sense of purpose. What was I getting up each morning to do? I was working hard to support the industry. That purpose and enjoying doing it is the reason I was there for 43 years."

He notes that there are plenty of people in New Zealand's wine industry, including the likes of Neal and Judy Ibbotson, John Buck, Tony Soljan, Jane Hunter, and Jim and Rose Delegat, who have been part of its fabric since the earliest days, and all of whom are Fellows with industry-shaping legacies. Meanwhile there are "incredible young people" coming through, including the Young Viticulturist and Young Winemaker of the Year, who will be recognised alongside the Fellows at the NZW 2026 Celebration Dinner in August.

With such good people, and an exceptional product from unique places, Philip remains confident about the future of the wine industry. He recently found the letter offering him a job at the Wine Institute in 1983. After the initial offer, the letter reads: "Despite what you may have heard in the media recently, we remain very confident about the future of the New Zealand wine industry", Philip says. "I thought to myself, 'well, not much has changed."