Mission Estate was established in Greenmeadows in 1851 by a group of French Missionaries, Brothers of the Orders, and Mooney was mentored by Brother John who was one of the last to work in the cellars when he started.
“He was an awesome guy, a great mentor and a very, very good winemaker,” he said.
Paul Mooney pictured earlier in his winemaking career. Photo / Mission Estate Winery
Brother John had a background working alongside oenologists from the University of Bourdeaux in France, and influenced Mooney’s development as a winemaker.
Mooney recalls a steep learning curve when he began his winemaking journey, including learning from winemaking “bibles”— French winemaking textbooks published in France during the 60s and 70s.
“I struggled through them, I don’t speak French but I learned to read in a rudimentary way. I used to study those quite extensively and I learned an awful lot from those.”
Mooney was also influenced by assistant winemakers who had been trained in Australia and fellow winemakers in Hawke’s Bay.
“We used to be quite collaborative and get together and taste wines together. We’d share our winemaking ideas and experiences so it was pretty cool really.”
In the beginning, he worked with “primitive” gear in a far less developed local viticulture scene before Mission Estate began to expand.
“It was only later, in the 90s, when we got vineyards on the Gimblett Gravels, that we started to make more sort of serious and interesting wines.”
He has always loved innovating through experimentation and may have been the first winemaker in New Zealand to make a whole-bunch pressed, barrel-fermented chardonnay in 1983.
“Others have made the claim, so we might not have been the first. I don’t take it too seriously honestly.”
He said 2009 was his favourite vintage, if he had to pick one.
“We had some really good heat, a lovely dry and fine autumn. The fruit ripened really well and we had access to some very good fruit back then.”
“That was a vintage where all the fruits were fantastic. We have still got wines in the cellar in the wine library and they are just really fabulous still.”
It was a 2009 Gimblett Gravels Mission Estate Jewelstone Cabernet Merlot that was the overall third-ranked wine behind two French “first growth” wines (top-ranked Bordeaux wines each worth more than $1000 a bottle) in a blind tasting by top experts hosted at Club Lusitano Hong Kong by Master of Wine Lisa Perrotti-Brown in 2011.
Mooney said his final vintage with Mission Estate this year had been close to the quality of 2009, allowing him to finish on a high note.
He said cabernet sauvignon was the most interesting grape variety because the wines were complex and it was challenging to do well, but he also had a lot of fun making chardonnay.
Roper, now Mission Estate’s head winemaker, said Mooney seemed to enjoy finding ways to improve efficiencies and reduce energy use.
“This is also where he differed from most winemakers. He has a physics degree that allowed him to think about these efficiencies with a greater depth of understanding,” Roper said.
“The design and development of the new winery must have been a highlight for him. Getting our water use below 1 litre per litre of wine, and energy use down to 0.1kwh per litre of wine. The installation of new technology and solar allowed us to reduce our energy use a further 40% in the last couple of years.”
In 2019, Mooney was honoured by Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers with a life membership in recognition of his services to the region.
Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers executive officer Brent Linn described Mooney’s career as an “incredible innings”.
“It is very unusual to have someone of Paul’s tenure in the industry ... I think that is a testament to his passion for Mission and the wines he has made there,” Linn said.
“Many people have worked with Paul over the years and his contribution has filtered out through those connections.”
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
