As good as Goldwater

Ken and Gretchen stroll among their vines. Pictures / Carolyn Robertson

Goldwater Estate wines couldn't have dreamed of a better way to celebrate 20 years in a business that began as a hobby. The Waiheke Island winery was selected as one of the top 100 wineries in the world at this year's London International Wine and Spirit Fair, one of the wine industry's leading international events.

Not only that, but its flagship red wine, Goldie, was nominated by the judging panel of five of Britain's top wine writers as one of the best reds in New Zealand.

Since founders Kim and Jeanette Goldwater launched their first wine from the 1982 vintage, Goldwater Estate has grown from a hobby production of just 200 cases of cabernet sauvignon a year to producing 200,000 litres from grapes grown in Marlborough, Hawkes Bay and on Waiheke Island.

As anyone who has visited the stylish tasting room at Goldwater Estate knows, you are more likely to encounter their daughter Gretchen Goldwater or her husband, Ken Christie, than you are the winery's founders, who still live on site and work in the day-to-day running of the company.

Gretchen, ever the diplomat, insists that the accolade at the London fair was as much a reinforcement that all Waiheke Island wineries are doing well as it was for her family specifically. But she agrees that being one of the top 100 has been a boon for the winery's international sales. Just as it was was a boon when a six-litre bottle of 2003 Goldwater New Dog Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc sold for US$10,000 ($14,100) at a Texas auction earlier this year. It is thought to be the highest amount paid for a bottle of New Zealand wine and it resulted in an immediate rise in the sales of New Dog Sauvignon Blanc.

The winery has exported wine to the Britain since 1985 but it was a decade earlier that life began for Goldwater Estate.

The first vines were planted in 1978, when Gretchen was 16. She recalls going to Waiheke Island from Auckland with her family most Friday evenings - with vines, posts, wire and a few hard-working friends - to establish the operation.

"We spent many a summer moored out in Putiki Bay, when visiting our cousins, before buying the land in 1975," she says.

The following three years were spent converting the gorse and thistle-covered land to the native tree and grapevine-covered area that it is today. And the tumbledown house that was on site back then later became the family home, where her parents still live.

"It was an adventurous thing to do, planting a vineyard here. And looking back now, I guess that was a philosophy I grew up with - that everything was possible. I admire my mother's vision that it was going to be possible to turn a gorse-filled valley into beautiful native bush, all grown from seeds she had collected.

"She had the ability to make quite unattractive work seem like fun and now 30 years later, my children play in that bush. It's fantastic."

Not that the idea of working at what began as a hobby for her parents ever struck Gretchen as a must-do. Like many young New Zealanders, she left the country to see the world. She became entranced by wine when in Europe and spent several years in Italy learning about wine.

When she returned to New Zealand, her parents had made the break from their day jobs to work fulltime at the vineyard and winery.

"My parents taught me not to fear change," Gretchen says. "Changing careers was something that both my parents did - my father from civil engineer to photographer to winegrower, my mother from occupational therapist to mother to winegrower. I left school to work in the television industry then went to law school and worked as a commercial lawyer before working at the winery."

The Goldwaters' success stems in part from their adventurous experimentation, planting grapes on an island in the middle of the Hauraki Gulf at a time when comparatively few people lived there permanently.

Their choice of a classic grape variety and a commitment to producing only high-quality wines from the cabernet sauvignon grape conferred an image of quality to their wines right from the start.

That focus has never wavered, despite tricky vintages and slowly changing weather conditions.

Gretchen says quality will always be the overriding factor for Goldwater Estate.

The family has now planted as much land as they can, because of increased housing and the limited amount of land considered suitable for growing grapes.

One big shift in approach has seen them move away from making high-quality reds solely from cabernet sauvignon to using an almost even split of cabernet sauvignon and the earlier-ripening merlot.

Future growth will come from other regions, particularly Marlborough, where they buy grapes from several growers and are shareholders in a substantial winery.

From July the Waiheke Island winery will be used for events, although not weddings. The trick here is to not divert attention from the prime objective of making wine that is enjoyed around the world.

 

GOLDWATER'S TOP THREE

 

2002 GOLDIE $69.95

The top wine and always - with the exception of once in its 20-year history - a cabernet sauvignon-based red. Widely regarded as one of the best New Zealand reds produced each year and always made entirely with grapes grown on Waiheke Island.

2004 GOLDWATER NEW DOG SAUVIGNON BLANC $19.95

Probably the best-known and best-loved of all the Goldwater wines, even though it's produced from grapes grown in Marlborough. The style is true to its region - pungent gooseberry and grassy aromas and flavours all the way.

2003 ZELL CHARDONNAY $29.95

Big creamy northern New Zealand chardonnay style, which is to say it tastes of ripe stone fruit. Made entirely from grapes grown on Waiheke.

* All Goldwater Estate wines are available from Glengarry Wine Shops and other specialist wine stores. New Dog sauvignon blanc is available in supermarkets nationwide and Zell chardonnay is available at selected supermarkets.