Wine —a 4000 B.C. vintage

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 21

Wine —a 4000 B.C. vintage

By

MAURICE HUNTER

No-one knows for certain just when the making and drinking of wine ali began, but grape seeds have been found in pre-historic caves, and fossilised vines, dating back to an era before man, have been discovered.

The first recorded evidence of wine-making appeared in the form of a statuette depicting a slave placing a stopper in a wine jar. It was found in the tomb of a pharaoh who died in 4000 B.C. Further evidence shows that the pharaohs maintained two vineyards — one for funerary wines and another for domestic purposes. That wine was the drink of the masses in 2000 B.C. is revealed in the Code of Hammurabi which stipulated the conditions under which wine could be bought and sold. And a seller who gave short measure was to be thrown into the water.

It is generally believed that wine was first developed in Persia; there is no doubt, at least, that the Persians loved their wine. Heiodotus recounts an aspect of Parliamentary procedure which has fascinating possibilities for today: all important matters were discussed twice in the councils ui state — once when they were drinking, and again when they were sober.

The spread of wine throughout the world is due to men of vastly differing beliefs: men of war, men of God, and men of commerce. The Phoenicians carried their vines to Greece where they were discovered by the Romans. Wherever the legions went, viticulture went with them. And, ns the generals extended the Roman Empire, so, too, did they extend the culture of the grape, until all

of Europe and even the southern coast of England was planted.

There was more than just production of wine involved in this. It was a favourite trick of the Romans to supply nomadic tribes with vines so that by the time thev had tended them for long enough to reap the crop, they were firmly allied to the soil and their wandering days were ended.

In the New World it was the Spaniard, Cortes, who had vines sent out to Mexico from Spain, but it was the Jesuit missionaries who promulgated them as they moved northwards to California. The men of commerce enter the story much later. Jan van Riebeck, the first Commandant of the

Cape Settlement of the Dutch East India Company, planted vines in South Africa in 1655. Governor Phillip of New South Wales introduced them, not very successfully, to Australia in 1788. It was a later Governor, John McArthur, who brought out a cargo of French cuttings in 1816 and produced the country’s first vintage of 20,000 gallons in 1827.. Fresh impetus was pro-

vided in 1831 by a young schoolmaster from Scotland, James Busby, who brought from France 570 different varieties of cuttings and planted a model vineyard of 40 acres in the Hunter Valley. It was the men of God, however, who were mainly responsible for the establishment of wines in New Zealand. Samuel Marsden, chief chaplain to the Government of New South Wales, made several trips to New Zealand. On one of them in 1819, he planted the first vines at Kerikeri mission. He greatly admired the Maori people and took the sons of several chiefs back to his headquarters at Parramatta for training in European methods of agriculture and viticulture.

Busby's ambition brought him to New Zealand in 1833 to become British Resident Agent without waiting to see the results of his wine-grow-ing labours in the Hunter Valley. With some of the precious French cuttings, be planted the first commercial vineyard at the present site of Waitangi. When it was destroyed by Hone Heke’s warriors in 1845, however, Busby lost interest, turned to land

speculation, and faded from the wine scene. A much more permanent influence was provided by Bishop Pompallier of Lyons, who was appointed ' the first Catholic Bishop of the South Pacific and landed at Hokianga in 1838. He soon established mission posts throughout the North Island and one of the first duties undertaken by the Marist Fathers was the planting of vines. It is interesting to note that the original planting of vines in the Gisborne area was a mistake. Bishop Pompallier divided the North Island into two bishoprics, taking the north himself and delegating the south to Bishop Viard. The latter despatched Father Lampila

and two priests to set up a mission in Hawke’s Bay, but their ship was blown off course and they landed at Gisborne. By the time the error was discovered, and they were redirected to Hawke’s Bay later in the year, vines had already been planted. Today, Gisborne is extensively planted in vineyards, with such major companies as Corbans, Montana, and Cooks having interests in the area. The good Fathers lost no time in planting again in Hawke’s Bay. Although this vineyard has been moved twice, and has endured floods, fire, and earthquake, Mission Station has survived to become the oldest vineyard in New Zealand under the same ownerhsip, the Society of Mary.

Until near to the end of the nineteenth century wine-making on a commercial basis was individual and unco-ordinated. There is evidence that a Spaniard, Joseph Soler, was making wine in Wanganui in 1865. assisted by his newphew, Joseph Vidal. After Soler’s death. Joseph Vidal assumed control and moved the vineyard to Hawke’s Bay. Over recent years the ownership of A. J. Vidal and Sons has undergone some change and is now operated under the same name by Mr George Fistonich, managing director of Villa Maria Wines.

Little government interest was shown until, in 1895, Dick Seddon requested the service of the viticulturist of the Government of Victoria, Romeo Bragato. He landed at Bluff in February, 1895; in seven short months he travelled the length and breadth of New Zealand and presented his report to the

Prime Minister in the September. He mad.; some remarkable recommendations which, had they been adopted, might have radically changed the course of New Zealand wine-making. They included production of wines according to region (such as Blenheim); the planting of a limited variety of classical grapes only; the establishment of oak forests in the Upper and Lower Moutere areas of Nelson; and that grape cultivation should be undertaken in Central Otago and Akaroa. In 1902, Bragato accepted the invitation of the Government to take up the post of official viticulturist under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture. In spite of his intense interest and enthusiasm, and his confidence in the future of the industry, he became frustrated by the indifference and lack of co-oper-ation of his superiors. He resigned and left the country in 1909. In the meantime, two men who were to record important firsts in the industry had arrived in the country. One was Stephen Yelas, one of more than five hundred immigrants from Dalmatia who, disenchanted with their Aust' rian overlords, had left their country which had been colonised by the Romans in 135 8.C." Yelas, like all the others, had begun life in his adopted country by digging for kauri gum; later, he changed to market gardening, and in 1902 made his first wine. Thus began Pleasant Valley Vineyards, now the largest vineyard owned by a New Zealander of Dalmatian extraction, Stephen’s son, Moscow Yelas. The other important immigrant was Assid Abr-

aham Gorban, who arrived in 1892 from the centuries old town of Shweir, in the Lebanon, where his family had been wine-makers for generations. The story of his trials and vicissitudes before planting the first vines of Mount Lebanon Vineyards at Henderson in 1902 is delightfully recounted by Dick Scott in his latest book. “A Stake in the Country.”

Corban is now one of the best known and most highly respected names in the New Zealand winemaking industry. And it is to this country’s advantage that Assid found Australia, where he stayed briefly on his way here, “a vast harsh land.”

Many other respected men have made their contributions to the history’ of New Zealand wine; not the least was a Brother Steinmetz, who left the Marist older in 1897 to plant his own five acres of grapes. He was later assisted by a young man, Tom McDonald, who in 1927 took over the vineyard and established McDonald’s Wines. The company was eventually merged with McWilliams of Australia. McDonald, as a director of the new company and production manager, lead the way in production of classical varieties, notably Cabernet Sauvignon, and set a pattern of

quality for others to follow. He is acknowledged as "Mr Wine” of New Zealand. In the early part of this century New Zealand wine-making was almost destroyed by the prohibitionists. They achieved a vote of "no licence" in many areas, including the Henderson wine district. In 1914, they received the support of the then Prime Minister (William Massey) when he delivered a diatribe in the House, describing "Austrian” wine as "one of the vilest concoctions which can possibly be imagined.” Shortage of labour

during the First World War added to the winemakers’ tribulations, and it was not until the 1939* 45 war, when a shortage of imported wines created a greatly increased demand, that real progress began to be made. The total acreage in vines had shrunk to an all-time low of 179 in 1923. Today. 1650 acres yield 7M gallons — and that is still not enough to meet all demands. The prediction made by Samuel Marsden in 1819 that "I have no doubt that New Zealand will be the finest country in the world for wine from what I saw" is well on the way to being fulfilled.