of the Treaty of Waitangi, but he is also widely regarded as the father of both the Australian and New Zealand wine industries, having previously founded vineyards in Australia’s Hunter Valley. Late in the 1830s the Catholic Marist brothers planted vines around the steep-sided cliffs of Whangaroa Harbour and at either end of the western side of the Northland peninsula, on the shores of the Hokianga and Kaipara harbours. These French missionaries left Northland and headed south during the mid-1800s, initially to Gisborne and then onto Hawke’s Bay, where they established Mission Vineyards. Much of Northland was once covered in kauri forest, one of the largest and longest-living trees in the world; the oldest living example stands at over 50 metres tall and is estimated to be between 1500 and 2000 years old. Significant tracts of kauri forest were cleared by colonial saw-millers, but during the mid-nineteenth century it was the resinous gum that lay buried under successive generations of kauri forest that formed a new and substantial export business. Towards the end of the century the forests and swamps of Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula were awash with gum-diggers, many of whom were Maori. Of most relevance to the wine industry, however, were the large numbers of European immigrants, in particular the Dalmatians. After digging for gum, the Dalmatian immigrants began a variety of rurally based endeavours, one of which was grapegrowing and winemaking. They planted their vineyards to the west of Auckland city in the lee of the Waitakere Ranges, initially around Henderson, where Lebanese immigrant Assid Corban had planted his Mt Lebanon Vineyards earlier in the century. As further expansion was required, they moved northwards to the gently undulating landscape of Kumeu, Huapai and Waimauku. With names like Nobilo, Selak, Brajkovich, Babich and Delegat, these small Dalmatian wine businesses that emerged during the
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first half of the twentieth century evolved to form the basis of New Zealand’s modern-day wine industry. The modern hub of winemaking remains in and around the northwestern districts of Auckland, but grape-growing has spread throughout the Northland peninsula. Significant plantings now exist in the seaside district of Matakana, near Warkworth, with small holdings further north around Whangarei. Even though vineyards first flourished in the far north nearly two centuries ago, it was not until Monty Knight‘s Okahu Estate in Kaitaia produced its first shiraz two decades ago that the region enjoyed a reinvigoration of interest. A number of small wineries have subsequently been established in the picturesque Bay of Islands and also as far north as the Karikari Peninsula—the site of the country’s most northerly vineyard. Small vineyards are also dotted across the landscape to the south of the country’s largest city, down the rolling hillsides of the Clevedon coast and into the incredibly fertile plains of the Waikato, across the Bay of Plenty and recently onto the Coromandel Peninsula. However, the northern wine district that has attracted the most attention in the last few decades lies off the city’s coast on an island in the Hauraki Gulf. When Kim and Jeanette Goldwater first planted their vines on slopes overlooking Putiki Bay in 1978, Waiheke Island was known as a retreat for retired Aucklanders and sandal-wearing hippies. This small island community enjoys a warm and sunny climate, with both its maximum and minimum temperatures being moderated by its completely maritime environment. Now known as the source of some of the country’s finest cabernet- and merlot-based wines, it today boasts a modestly sized wine industry that has gained considerable recognition. KEVIN JUDD