It's just over a year since Waiheke Island's Kim and Jeanette Goldwater handed over their stunning winery to the University of Auckland.
The island's oldest commercially viable vineyard, winery, cellar, offices, restaurant and family home in Putiki Bay have become an integral and hands-on part of the University of Auckland's wine science diploma course. What they now have is arguably one of the finest viticultural and winemaking undergraduate facilities in the world, with breathtaking views as a bonus.
With the Goldwaters enjoying a well-deserved retirement, their brand now belongs to American lodge owner and collector of New Zealand wineries, Bill Foley.
The university uses the grapes grown on the Waiheke property to produce a variety of wines under the new label, Goldie. The students get to live onsite, tend the vines, work alongside the winemakers, utilise the brand new laboratory, develop skills as cellar-hands, promote and sell their product from the cellar and learn related skills in the restaurant and tasting room. In short, it's about wine tourism and hospitality and the important synergy between wine and food.
The Goldwater family keep in touch, particularly through son-in-law Ken Christie who has an ongoing role as general manager of the Goldie Wines operation, and both Kim and Jeanette pop in occasionally to chat about the history of the estate and pass on their years of knowledge about what makes the vineyard tick, what vines were planted where and why, and how to maximise production while retaining premium quality.
