First Canterbury wine flows

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 1

First Canterbury wine flows

Canterbury’s first commercial wine flowed yesterday afternoon when the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) officially opened Mundy Brothers’ St Helena Wine Estate, at Coutts Island. Messrs Robin and Norman Mundy planted the grapes in 1978 after their potato crop was wiped out by disease, which meant that potatoes could not be grown again in the land for several years. • The grapes were harvested by the families in April, and thanks to the efforts of a wine-maker, Mr Danny Schuster, the two introductory wines — a gewurtztra-miner-muller thurgau, and an estate white — have already gained high praise among local wine critics. To confirm their opinion, both wines won bronze certificates at the New Zealand .Wine Institute’s national awards this. week. Mr Tom McDonald, chairman of the institute, presented the certificates to Mr Schuster during, the opening ceremony .yesterday, saying that it was truly commendable for a new vineyard, with young vines, to win two bronzes in its first year of production. "Grapes grow easily, in '

Hawke’s Bay, where I come from, but I have always thought it was not worth the effort to grow grapes for wine in a place like Canterbury. However, the Mundy brothers, have proved me wrong. After tasting their wines, I am convinced that it is more than worth it,” Mr McDonald said. Mr Robin Mundy, said it was a historic occasion, the release of the wines from the first commercial crop in Canterbury. “In 1978, people said we were crazy, that we would never do it, ’and that the frosts would get the grapes,” Mr Mundy said. “But we did do it. We had to build our own winery, because we were the first in Christchurch to need a winery, but with the help of the Rural Bank, the A.N.Z. Banking Group, and the grape researchers at Lincoln College, we have made it,” he said. Help from Dr D. I. Jackson, who had carried out grape trials at Lincoln College since 1973, had been invaluable, he said, Mr Muldoon said that the Mundy brothers had shown considerable courage in beginning wine-making in Canterbury.

“There is a far greater land use in New Zealand now with horticulture, and people are getting more out of each acre than ever before,” he. said. Congratulating Mr Schuster on his awards, Mr Muldoon said that if he could - gain two bronze certificates in his first year of production, he obviously knew what he was doing. The two St Helena wines will go on sale to the public on Saturday morning for the first time, and the limited first vintage is expected to be sold out early in the day. Mr. Schuster recommends that the. estate white be kept ■for six months, before drinking, and that the gewurtztraminer be kept for 12. months, to. let them mature slightly. The Mundy brothers have continued to plant varieties of grapes found by Lincoln College researchers to be suitable for the Canterbury climate. They are mainly , wine riesling, muller thur- i gau, pinpt gris. pinot blanc, and gewurtztraminer grapes. A total of 27 hectares has been planted now — 20 more than were planted in 1978 for this first vintage — and the full maturity of the vineyard is expected to be reached in the late 1980 s.