HB Vintners Celebrate 30 years Continued...
Life member recipents are:
Alan Limmer, Stonecroft Winery
Alan rescued Syrah cuttings shortly before government scrapped its viticulture research station and sparked a Syrah revival when he planted the cuttings in 1984. Most of NZ’s Syrah vines derive from these original cuttings. Released NZ’s first commercial Syrah in 1989 and first Zinfandel as well. Basically saved the Gimblett Gravels area from shingle mining. Been past HBWG Board member and Chair.
(From Stonecroft’s website)
The general locality was completely unknown for its viticultural potential, and within the community regarded as a wasteland. Consequently, Stonecroft had as neighbours, the local municipal rubbish dump, a Kart track, a drag race strip, a gravel quarry and an army firing range. Shortly after purchasing our land, the local council also attempted to provide us with an asphalt plant, and a car crushing industry.
Interestingly, while both of these attempts were defeated, we were not without our own difficulties in pursuing our dream. The local council declined our initial request to erect a winery, based on the provision that ‘storage of organic waste’ in the vicinity was prohibited due to the free draining nature of the soils. Our wine to be was deemed by the wise bureaucrats as ‘organic waste’. That piece of wisdom was dispensed with via an appeal, and so the way was paved for wineries to establish in the area.
The wise city fathers advised Alan that it would be appropriate to lodge an application to review the zoning of these soils, to reflect their true value to the community.
This was duly done, (1989) and the process began. Then the Council received an application from the adjacent gravel quarry to mine a large portion of this land for gravel (rest of details online)……
Alwyn Corban, Ngatarawa Winery
Former vintners’ organisation Board member and Chair and still a current director of the successor organisation, Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc.
Ngatarawa began as the shared vision of two very different families. What the Corban family name is to winemaking, so the Glazebrook family name is to farming. It was the remarkable union of these two families, with their rich heritages of vision, innovation and passion that saw Ngatarawa Wines established in former racing Stables in 1981.
When Alwyn Corban and Garry Glazebrook converted the Stables and planted their vineyard, it was one of New Zealand's earliest boutique wineries. Ngatarawa still remains a key pioneer of grapegrowing and winemaking in the Bridge Pa Triangle on the western edge of the Heretaunga Plains in Hawke's Bay.
It was established at a time when there were only 96 winemakers in New Zealand, with just 8 in Hawke's Bay and only 2 in Marlborough. At 10 acres, Ngatarawa's original planting of Chardonnay was the largest in Hawke's Bay at the time. Other varieties in the original 27 acre vineyard included Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Gewurztraminer and Semillon.
In 1999, after 18 years of pioneering, the Glazebrook family sold their shareholding to Alwyn and Brian Corban. Today, Ngatarawa is owned by cousins Alwyn and Brian Corban who continue their family's 100 year winemaking heritage in New Zealand.
John Buck, Te Mata Estate Winery
John’s contribution to the New Zealand wine industry extends well beyond his role at Te Mata Estate. John was involved in wine judging in both Australia and New Zealand for many years, first joining the National Tasting Panel in 1969. In 1979, he was made Chairman of Judges for the National Wine Show, the first New Zealander to be appointed to the position.
While he is currently Chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Opera House, he also served as Chairman of Hawke’s Bay Vintners in the 1980s, and from 1991 to 1996 as Chairman of the New Zealand Wine Institute.
In 1990, John was awarded the Commemoration Medal for Services to New Zealand, and in 1995, an OBE for services to the wine industry, and a Fellowship of the Wine Institute of New Zealand in 2000.
John Buck was chairman of the Wine Institute of New Zealand, a past chairman of Hawke’s Bay Vintners and a past chairman of what is now the Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Known in the industry as a great visionary who also has a remarkable ability to get things done, John Buck set out in the late 1970s to make great red wine. He did it and established the standard for everyone else in the industry.
Kevyn Moore
Kevyn Moore received the highest wine industry accolade upon induction into New Zealand Wine’s Hall of Fame in 2008. He is the second-only Hawke's Bay inductee, with Tom McDonald OBE, FWINZ awarded this honour in 2005.
Kevyn was a previous Vice-President of HB Grape Growers and President of NZ Grape Growers Council for five years.
The award celebrated Kevyn’s major contribution to the development and enhancement of New Zealand’s wine industry.
Kevyn is best known for his strategic work to develop a single unified industry body, New Zealand Winegrowers, from the separate entities Grape Growers Council and the Wine Institute. He also advocated for an industry journal, New Zealand Winegrower, which is now highly regarded as the industry’s official communication tool.
Kevyn played a pivotal role in the passing of legislation authorising the Commodity Levies (Winegrapes) Order, which gave the National Council compulsory funding and enabled it to support more extensive industry research.
Kevyn was also the leading force in the development of the annual Romeo Bragato Conference and Bragato Wine Awards, beginning in 1995. At his prompting, the focus enlarged from viticulture to embrace winemaking. It is now the single major industry wide conference.
