‘Siefried’s good wines’

Press, 23 June 1978, Page 7

‘Siefried’s good wines’

In a countryside dominated by apple trees, it is refreshingly different, on rounding a bend at Upper

Moutere, Nelson, to see a small but flourishing vineyard on a gentle slope stretched out to the sun. A large sign proclaims the fact that it is the vineyard of Weingut Siefried Ltd, which can be liberally translated as “Siefried’s good wine.” Hermann Siefried was born at Ilz, in the Steiermarck province of Austria, in 1947, where he worked in the family’s apple orchard until, at tbe age of 16, he developed an interest in grape cultivation. After a period at the Silverberg Horticultural College he went on to Weinsburg, which is attached to Heidelberg University, where he took his degree in oenology (wine technology). For the next few years he worked with grapes and studied wine making in Austria, Germany. Switzerland and South Africa before coming to New Zealand in 1971 to produce apple wines for the

Apple and Pear Marketing Board. The wines were good but the project was a marketing disaster. However, Mr Siefried had een enough of the Nelson area to convince him that the soil and climate had all the elements necessary for the cultivation of classical vines. So in 1975 he purchased 12 hectares of apple orchard and immediately cleared and planted 4 hectares with 14 varieties f classical, virus free vines, from which he produced a range of seven wines. Most are in the soft finish, German style and, in the two exhibitions in which he has entered, has already won several silver and bronze awards. He has now decided that, although no variety will be eliminated, there are some with which he will not persevere and will concentrate on Gewurz Traminer, Rhine Riesling, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir.