Generations ripening on the vine

Susan and Anthony Ivicevich are working to give Kumeu area wines a higher profile. Picture / Richard Robinson

Third-generation winemaker Anthony Ivicevich likes to think wine runs in his veins.

"It's the old story that they weaned me from my mother on a bottle of wine rather than a bottle of milk," said Ivicevich, from West Brook Winery's 8ha site in Waimauku, about 35 minutes north of Auckland.

He and wife Susan, both wearing T-shirts bearing the West Brook logo, sit on the patio of their six-year-old winery and talk fondly about a business that they willingly devote six and sometimes seven days a week to.

Although West Brook's location may be relatively new, winemaking has been an Ivicevich tradition since 1935. The grandson of a Croatian immigrant who arrived in Auckland in the 1930s, Ivicevich's first official taste of the family business began when he was 13 and was made to work in his father's Auckland wine shop. Unpaid, except for his bus fare, Ivicevich realised early on that stocking shelves and eventually being behind the counter wasn't his first love. Getting his hands dirty among the vines was.

Actually, there was a time when sheep farming was his dream job.

"When I was 10, I wanted to be a sheep farmer. I didn't want to work the vineyard because it was too hard. Sheep were much easier to work with," the 56-year-old said with a chuckle. "Don't you know they shear themselves?"

When Ivicevich was 15, his father took ill and he left school to carry on the business, making wine while moonlighting in the retail wine shop. Looking back, he said it was his choice to help the family.

"I've never done anything else. I don't know what it's like to do anything different," said Ivicevich. "I just grew into the business."

Ivicevich continued to help his father at the store and winery, eventually opening up his own winery and retail shop which he ran with his wife after they married in 1972.

On the heels of his parents' divorce in 1985, his father sold off his businesses, leaving winemaking for good and Anthony was the only Ivicevich left in the industry.

"It was a shame to see it all go. I was the one that wouldn't give up," he said.

Today, both of their children have decided to continue in the family tradition, but in different ways. Linton, 29, works alongside his parents managing the winery and vineyard, while Michael, 31, is chief winemaker at Delegat's Wine Estate.

Ivicevich said he and Susan had always been adamant that the boys make their own decisions when it came to their careers, even if that meant working for a competitor.

When Michael was in high school his parents asked him to start helping out at the family winery or go out and get a part-time job and pick up skills in another industry.

But Michael chose to work for Delegat's instead and was so enamoured with the industry that he studied winemaking at Australia's Charles Sturt University.

In his time off, Michael helps his parents with their business, from blending the wine to choosing the location of the winery.

West Brook was built in 1999 from the ground up after the Ivicevich's once rural Henderson winery and vineyard were boxed in by urban sprawl and had to be sold.

Linton, on the other hand, first pursued a career as a boatbuilder until he developed allergies to the materials essential to the craft. Labelled Mr Fix-It, Linton now spends his days at West Brook as his father's right-hand man.

It's not surprising that the Ivicevich boys have a passion for winemaking, like their father, their childhoods were dominated by the family business.

Susan remembers keeping one eye on toddler Michael and one on her work.

"I got involved as the kids got bigger. Mind you, when Michael was little we have a picture of him in a wine box when we were down there labelling the wine," she said.

Like her husband and her sons, in many ways Susan also grew into the family business. Working and managing the stand-alone wine shop, which has since been sold, led to mowing the vineyard's grass, tying down vines and even driving a tractor.

"These are all things I would never have dreamed of doing before getting married," said Susan, who now manages West Brook's winery accounts, cellar door sales and exports.

Division of labour is clear at the winery - Ivicevich is the boss. But, that doesn't mean he makes all the decisions in isolation. Unlike his father, who attested to be open to new ideas but often was not, Ivicevich is eager to incorporate his sons' views whenever he can, or the ideas of any staff member, for that matter.

"I would tell my father his equipment was archaic and he'd say: 'I've done it this way for years.' But I would say: 'Just because you've done it that way for years doesn't make it right. You've been doing it wrong for years.'

"I'm not stubborn. I listen to them, otherwise I'd have my head in the sand."

Ivicevich admitted winemaking hasn't changed too much in his lifetime.

Other than the advent of screw tops, the biggest change has been understanding the science behind winemaking.

Echoing his father's words, Ivicevich said: "Years ago you did certain things in winemaking, but you didn't know why you did it. It was always the way it had been done. Science has a big part to play now."

With production reaching its peak last year, West Brook's award-winning wines are set to conquer even more export markets than its seven-country reach.

The company is also working closely with six wineries and Rodney District Council to label the region Kumeu Classic Wine Country in order to capture more of the tourist trade.

Ageing nicely

* Grandfather Mick - winemaker - Croatia.
* Father Tony - winemaker and retail shop - Auckland.
* Son Anthony - winemaker and retail shop - Henderson then Waimauku.
* Grandson Linton - vineyard manager.
* Grandson Michael - winemaker.