Vintner a pivotal player in industry
Peter Hubscher was a key player in building New Zealand’s early wine industry and its success in launching it onto the world stage. In his memoir,
A Vintner’s Tale, Hubscher looks back on his 40-year career, which began as a winemaker, then as director of the highly successful Montana Wines before turning his efforts to supporting underprivileged youth through the establishment of the Tironui Music Trust.
We asked him a few questions:
You spent your working career in the wine industry — what attracted you to it? Winemaking was a cottage industry in the early 1960s. As a student of Food Technology in my final years of study, I was aware of the awe that surrounded wine in general and the immaturity that existed in the NZ industry and indifferent quality of the local wine. When I was offered the opportunity to become a winemaker, I saw a potential future for myself where I could earn a living in a socially acceptable industry that could only improve the product it made and where my academic studies should help me master the skills that were the basis of the making of wine.
How has the NZ wine industry changed since you retired as director at Montana Wines? The NZ industry has lost the desire, and so ability, to innovate and produce a wide range of differentiated wine styles that it can sell profitably in world markets. Today it is predominately a commodity producer of a single wine variety — sauvignon blanc, much of which is exported in bulk and bottled in Australia and England. This has seen the value per litre of our exports continually fall and exposes the industry to huge risk in that as a commodity it will fall out of fashion at some future time, with reduced demand and leaving the industry with no alternative market offerings. Historically, we exported significant volumes of sparkling wine (Lindauer), chardonnay, red wines and blended white wines based on the MullerThurgau grape.
Can you name a couple of highlights from your time as director of Montana? There are so many; it was an incredible time to be in the industry. Here are a couple though: Building a large profitable NZ company that was internationally recognised for the quality of its wines across a wide portfolio of wine styles.
That the staff’s search for excellence across all areas of our activities made the company such a sought-after workplace for people to seek employment at.
Establishing the Tironui Music Trust was a great act of generosity. Why did you do this? My wife Pam and I came up with the idea of establishing a trust that offers fully funded musical tuition and performance music programmes to young New Zealanders with limited opportunities.
I have a background steeped in music; my father was an itinerant music teacher of violin and viola. Music was a big part of my childhood and I was fortunate to understand the joy that it can bring to a life. It made sense for me in my retirement to add my personal contribution to supporting youth in this area. My wife and I get fulfilment from seeing the growth of young musicians who we have supported. Our philanthropy gives a benefit to us as donors and the students we help.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book? The book is all about the evolution of the local wine industry from an ugly duckling to a swan and how the most successful local company participated in the transformation.
The Tironui final section again demonstrates that in music, too, a dedicated team who are focused on an agreed goal can deliver results that will contribute to the building of a better New Zealand.