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WineNZ Summer 2019-20

The authoritative guide to NZ's wine industry

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Waiiheke | Feature<br />

of Kim and Jeanette Goldwater’s<br />

Putiki Bay vineyard of the 80s:<br />

the first planted on Waiheke and<br />

one of the first in the country to<br />

convince the wine world that we<br />

could produce truly fine wine.<br />

Now the vineyard is not only<br />

still providing fruit for world<br />

class wines marketed under the<br />

‘Goldie Estate’ brand, but has<br />

also been protected from future<br />

development or resale.<br />

But it was not some<br />

bureaucratic monolith that saved<br />

the land. It was Kim and Jeanette<br />

themselves who ensured the<br />

survival of their historic vineyard.<br />

In <strong>20</strong>09, following the sale<br />

of their extended interests in<br />

Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay to<br />

a US investor, Kim and Jeanette<br />

generously gifted the Waiheke<br />

property, valued at $4million,<br />

to the Auckland University as a<br />

lynchpin to their Wine Science<br />

course.<br />

“We wanted to preserve<br />

the vineyard’s history and do<br />

something that would work for<br />

the local community” said Kim at<br />

the time.<br />

It was an act of extreme<br />

generosity!<br />

Today the students of the<br />

Auckland University Wine<br />

Science Course are able to<br />

study all aspects of the industry<br />

from this ‘outlier’ of the main<br />

University campus. They have<br />

access to the vineyards for<br />

viticultural experience and<br />

Goldie Estate, a completely<br />

independent, commercial winery,<br />

provides hands on winemaking<br />

experience.<br />

Few oenological students,<br />

worldwide, would have such a<br />

‘hands on’ opportunity.<br />

Winemaker Heinrich Storm<br />

explains that while the students<br />

can make their own wines<br />

from some of the estate fruit,<br />

the Goldie wines he makes are<br />

completely independently made.<br />

He is responsible for the winery<br />

continuing to make quintessential<br />

Waiheke wines in the manner<br />

that the Goldwaters pioneered all<br />

those years ago.<br />

Heinrich explains that the<br />

13ha site is really made up of two<br />

vineyards. The home block that<br />

surrounds the winery and looks<br />

down to Putiki Bay caters for the<br />

reds, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon,<br />

Merlot, Cabernet Franc and<br />

Syrah.<br />

The second vineyard, across the<br />

road from the entrance, is mainly<br />

for white wines and is the original<br />

source of fruit for the Zell vineyard<br />

that had a cult following for<br />

Chardonnay in the earlier days.<br />

The estate wines of Merlot/<br />

Cabernet, Chardonnay and Syrah<br />

are matched, in good years, with<br />

reserve wines of Cabernet/Merlot<br />

/ Franc, Chardonnay, Merlot,<br />

Syrah and Viognier.<br />

Overall Heinrich has seen a<br />

change in emphasis at Goldie.<br />

“Our emphasis is now more<br />

towards Chardonnay and Syrah.<br />

We’ve even taken out 30% of the<br />

www.winenzmagazine.co.nz<br />

13

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