Industry mourns driver behind NZ's wine success

Alex Corban. Photo / Mary Shanahan

New Zealand wine pioneer Alexander Annis Corban has died in Havelock North at the age of 89.

Mr Corban died at Summerset in the Vines Retirement Village on Sunday, after a life spent forging the New Zealand wine industry.

A member of the Corban family that established one of the country's first wineries, he was awarded an OBE in 1978 for services to the viticultural industry, and the New Zealand Medal in 1990.

He was the inaugural chairman of the Wine Institute of New Zealand.

In the early 1990s, Mr Corban and his late wife, Gwen, originally from Wairoa, moved from Auckland to Hawke's Bay.

Te Mata Estate winery chairman John Buck said Mr Corban "set the wine industry on the path to the success story it is today".

"Everyone in the industry owes him a debt of gratitude. None of us would be where we are today if it weren't for Alex Corban," he said.

A celebration of Mr Corban's life will be held at Ngatarawa Wines today.