Vintage 2024: Gisborne
"I'm walking through the winery at the moment and the smells in there are just bloody amazing," says GisVin Chief Winemaker Mark Thompson early on 12 March.
Wright, an impressive multi-tasker with enviable time-management skills not only runs Wrights Vineyard and Winery at Manutuke in partnership with her husband Geoff, but is also a criminal lawyer, chef, marketing guru . . . and mother of four young sons.
“I am excited, proud . . . and a little exhausted to have won this award,” says Wright after collecting $1000, a hand-blown glass trophy and a Galaxy Note 4 from category sponsor Spark NZ at a ceremony in Rotorua.
She attributes her success to “sweat, determination and a little number eight wire”.
The Wrights own 18 hectares of land, a commercial winery and cellar door café 15 kilometres from Gisborne city.
Describing themselves as “self-believers, risk-takers, passionate pioneers and guardians of the land,” Wright says they built the business from the ground up over a period of 10 years. They now produce premium certified organic wines in three ranges: Wrights, The Natural Wine Co and Mister Right.
They were the first in New Zealand to use natural clay as a fining agent instead of the usual fish, milk and egg. This led to approval by the Vegetarian Society to label their wine as vegetarian-friendly — also a first in the country.
Winning the Making it in Rural category is a huge achievement, Wright says. “It is a privilege to win this, the toughest category of the awards. The entrants were all of a really high standard, so it is humbling to think that my business was the most successful in the category. It was a broad field with a lot of really talented women,” she says.
“And it was just great to represent Gisborne, organic wine and viticulture in a category that covered back-country farms to small boutique businesses.”
Wright says preparing for the awards was a great goal-setting exercise.
“It is good to measure your business against others. It is a reminder of what to focus on and how to go forward.”
The mother of four young boys including a “wakeful” eight-month-old baby, Wright is in charge of the marketing for the winery, she’s the chef at the winery café and also runs her own criminal law practice.
“Whether it’s family, wine or crime, I always give it my best. Beyond reasonable doubt, these are exciting, challenging and rewarding times in the wine industry,” she says.
Wright hopes at least one of their four sons will continue with the family legacy of winemaking which started back in the 1930s when Geoff’s Croatian great-grandfather, Stanko Jurakovich, was granted one of the original winemaking licences in Kumeu.
“The future is looking bright with son Noah, 7, already able to distinguish between most white wines.”
This year marked the sixth of the annual Enterprising Rural Women Awards.
To be eligible, women had to own and operate a small business with fewer than 10 full-time staff, be based in a rural area and have been operating for at least two years.
If in a partnership, women needed to be an active partner of 50 percent or more in the business.
