Vandals run off wine

Press, 3 April 1980, Page 12

Vandals run off wine

PA Auckland Vandals have' let $150,000 worth, of wine go down the drain at the premises of Montana wines in Glen Innes. About 168,000 litres of assorted wines poured out of six vats after vandals opened the valves some time during the week-end. The general manager of the firm (Mr I. G. Stormont) said, “I cannot think of a motive for anyone opening up the valves.” He said the Glen Innes property was used to store and bottle wine. Montana production

would not be affected because big stocks of all kinds of wines were held at the company’s Gisborne and Blenheim wineries. ■' He said the culprits seemed determined to get into the property because they would have had to have, scaled the 2.5 m wall that surrounds the area. He confirmed that the' wine drained out of the vats included sparkling red, white Wine, port, and sherry. Company officials had now padlocked the vat valves. The officer In charge of the Glen Innes police,

Senior-Sergeant R. D. Donald, said the police were following some promising leads on the case. It is the second batch of liquor to go down the drain in Auckland this year. Early last month, the Kingsland plant of Associated New . Zealand >; Liqeurs, Ltd, was awash / with $lOO,OOO = worth ”of ' liqueur. ■ ’ More than 4600 litres of the company’s new Deer Velvet, liqueur was lost one week-end after workmen accidentally released '. a valve leading to a holding vat.