By the BOTTLE
Growth in organically certified wines, beer and spirits has led to the opening of a new online beverage business.
Pete Connell describes his early wine journey as incredibly lucky. Science came naturally to him at high school so the decision to study the wine he loved was an easy one. He embarked on a viticulture and winemaking degree at Lincoln University in Canterbury, which led to stints working for industry luminaries such as Kate Radburnd and Hans and Therese Herzog. Fast forward to February 2020 and he managed to get back into New Zealand in the nick of time to avoid living in Melbourne during lockdown.
Lockdown was spent planning a new business with his brother John and John’s partner Ashley Roberts. The trio launched online organic drinks portal ByTheBottle (bythebottle.co.nz) in December last year and are now busy getting word out about it.
While now based in Auckland, the three have lived in Melbourne and London where they were inspired by the explosion in retail of organic, biodynamic and small producer wines.
“We’d been back and forth, coming home to see families and we saw an opportunity to do the same thing here in New Zealand,” says Pete.
“A lot of the organics movement in this country has been led from the top by producers such as Rippon, Felton Road, Seresin Estate, Herzog, TWR,
The Millton Vineyard – people who, regardless of their credentials in terms of sustainability, are at the top of their game anyway.
“We’re thrilled to represent them but we’re looking at some of the smaller people who may not have a winery or a well-known name but who are doing great things for organic, biodynamic and sustainable integrity.”
Examples of producers who fit this bill include Windrush and Deep Down in Marlborough as well as the Kelly Washington wine brand.
He says they would like to look at the possibility of a physical store at some stage but there is no rush.
Events are a different kettle of fish. Their first pop-up tasting is planned for mid-year in Grey Lynn followed by a series around the country featuring producers hand-picked by the ByTheBottle trio.
“We’ve got Hawke’s Bay lined up in September, which will be a casual Saturday afternoon with a bunch of people pouring wines. We plan to carry on building the events thing and then, when the time is right, we’ll look at a physical space, a retail store focusing on organics,” says Pete.
“We’re planning several events and will definitely keep doing them. It’s what we do – we can’t help ourselves!”