As New Zealand’s glut of first-generation winemakers move towards retirement, what will their offspring bring to the vines?
The New Zealand wine industry is preparing for a major shift as the country’s glut of first-generation winemakers move towards retirement. While there are concerns, there is also excitement about what a new generation of youngsters can bring to the vines.
When Arabella Waghorn’s roof caved in, she knew it was time to move on. The now 29-year-old had just finished a Fine Arts degree and was living in Auckland, under the rule of a “dodgy landlord” in an overpriced apartment with a leaky roof. Forced to move out, Arabella took a moment to consider whether the City of Sails, with its challenging rental market, was the right fit for her. Serendipitously, a job opportunity had come up in her home town of Marlborough. It was a marketing gig at Astrolabe – the wine label established by her parents, Simon and Jane, 17 years earlier.
Arabella and her two sisters grew up surrounded by the wine industry. Childhood memories include skipping among vines and climbing over wine tanks, so returning to Marlborough in 2013 was a meaningful homecoming. A few years later, Arabella had made a natural progression from marketing wines to making them. She’s currently completing an apprenticeship under Simon’s tutelage and worked on her debut vintage last year.
Arabella is one of many secondgeneration wine people across the country dipping their toe in the oak barrel. The trend comes at a crucial time for the industry in New Zealand, given the weight of first-generation farmers in the game. About 85 per cent of the country’s wineries were established in the past 30 years – which means a large proportion of New Zealand’s wine producers are edging towards retirement. The collective shift has the potential to change the face of the young industry, which prides itself on its people and their stories. New Zealand Winegrowers CEO, Philip Gregan, says that robust succession planning will be fundamental to the industry’s future.
“The large proportion of firstgeneration winemakers have a great deal of experience and respect,” he says. “What becomes the challenge is how you then encourage the younger generation to join our industry, and ensure this knowledge is transferred – but that they also have the opportunity to embrace innovation and change, and make their own mark. How the business is transferred from one generation to the next is vital to the future success of our industry.” At Astrolabe, business is being transferred slowly and steadily. Arabella’s apprenticeship is part-time while she continues her marketing role, and she undertakes additional studies here and there. Simon says although Arabella already understands much of the business by osmosis, there is vital knowledge to be inherited.
“With Arabella following me around now, [she’s] learning how and why I make my decisions and trying to understand all those critical points where I decide whether to pick or how to blend and balance the wines – all the key things that are institutionalised in my head and need to be passed down,” he explains.
“A HALLMARK OF THE INDUSTRY IS FAMILY-RUN WINERIES, WHICH MANY WANT TO PROTECT.”
The business has been entirely family owned since last year, when Arabella and her sister Libby, who is now General Manager, took the opportunity to buy out the two external shareholders, both ready to move on. “It is quite liberating,” says Simon, “and it means that we can really work on the elements of the business that are more characteristic of who we are: the way we talk about the wines and market and position the wines, and how the branding looks – all those things that really enhance the fact that it is a family business.”
FAMILY MATTERS
A few hours south in North Canterbury, the second generation is further entrenched at Dunnolly Estate. The winery was established in 1995 by Peter and Felicity Parish. Son Matt, who was completing his Masters in Applied Science at the time, was slated as chief winemaker – but when he left the country, a new plan was formed.
“I was going to be the viticulturist, but I did one vintage in the winery and I never looked back,” explains Nicky, Matt’s younger sister and Dunnolly winemaker. Nicky is now approaching her 20th vintage, while US-based Matt works as an advisor to the company. Nicky is also a consultant, based in Marlborough.
Peter says succession planning has been on the agenda for about 12 months and the family has made it a priority to “get the right formula”.
Nicky adds: “It’s really important for us to have an open discussion about it. The business doesn’t stop when Dad decides that he’s had enough and wants to play golf every day. Mum and Dad worked really hard and sacrificed a lot to establish this business … so it’s really important for us to have that legacy preserved and to keep the brand story going.”
The New Zealand wine industry has quite a powerful story of its own. Remarkable success on the world stage has led to a strong global reputation – with sauvignon blanc doing a lot of the leg work. The varietal accounts for almost three-quarters of the country’s wine production. Another hallmark of the industry is the share of family-run wineries, a characteristic many want to protect. Philip believes the industry’s identity is secure – regardless of the quality of succession planning: “There is always going to be a strong reputation of family-owned wineries, it is the nature of our industry.”
Others aren’t so sure. Pegasus Bay general manager Paul Donaldson, a second-generation wine man himself, says it’s hard to envisage the industry staving off big business. “The reality is that those first-generation winemakers are at a point now that if they don’t have a succession plan in place, they are wondering what to do,” he says. “I think we might end up with … more big players in the industry. They’ll have no other choice, those first-generation people, than to sell if they don’t have a family member or someone like that to succeed them. That will potentially lead to a slightly more boring industry with bigger brands assimilating, even famous brands that just didn’t have a succession plan in place. A shame, but that’s economics.”
The other side of the story is perhaps more promising. It is fresh ideas, new energy and different perspectives as the next generation of winemakers, viticulturists, enologists, and support staff come to the table.
At 26, William Hancock represents this injection of youth. The winemaker is one half of Hancock & Sons, a label he co-founded with his well-recognised dad, John, in 2017. Having just completed his 50th harvest, John was involved with the establishment of both Morton Estate and Trinity Hill – departing the latter to give the father-and-son arrangement a shot.
He wanted to get his hands dirty again, having gradually shifted from winemaking to an ambassadorial role at Trinity Hill, but he also wanted to leave a legacy for his sons, a prospect that had slowly eroded along with his Trinity Hill shareholding.
At Hancock & Sons, the succession plan is short-lived; John plans to “die in the saddle”, at which point the business will belong to his boys (Michael is currently “out being a 21 year old”), and then…
“I don’t want kids and the idea of my brother having kids is frankly quite terrifying,” laughs William. “When I kick the bucket, if that’s the end of the road then we probably don’t have too much to say about it.”