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Industry Pioneer Cellar door hosts are often the face of the winery they represent. BRENDA WEBB speaks to industry veteran Helen Neame. WITH 25 years in the cellar door at Hunter’s Wines under her belt, Helen Neame has no intention of giving up any time soon. “I love my job and certainly have no plans to stop – I just hope that come summer, cellar doors in Marlborough reopen and we get back to some kind of normality.” Helen started with Hunter’s in September 1994 and is pretty sure she is the longest serving host in the region. Coming from a corporate background in Wellington, Helen arrived in Marlborough in the mid-1990s with artist husband Clarry. “I decided then I wanted to work in the wine industry – I loved wine and loved the people and so set about going around all the wineries and asking for work,” she says. Hunter’s appealed, with its lovely garden setting, but there were no vacancies. Ever the optimist, Helen left her details and when the phone call came, jumped at the chance to be the face of the cellar door. She remembers it being busy, with a mix of overseas and locals visiting, mainly due to the late Ernie Hunter’s engaging personality and brilliance at taking his wine to the people and encouraging them to visit Marlborough. “It was quite amazing the way people would come because they’d heard about our wines and they wanted to come and see where it was grown,” says Helen. Another Ernie idea was getting people to sponsor grapevines in the Rapaura Rd vineyard, giving them a certificate with the vine number and row. “People would come in clutching their certificates and wanting their photos taken with their vine – it was a great initiative.” Hunter’s set about enticing people in from the very beginning, having established the winery in 1979. Ernie planted Cabernet Sauvignon on a high pergola system right next to the main road, which drew people in. After he died in a car accident in 1987, his wife Jane Hunter continued the welcome to visitors, by establishing a lovely native garden Back in those days wine wasn’t sold in supermarkets, so locals would head to the winery to buy a case or two. They’d bring their visiting friends for a day out as well, recalls Helen. The biggest change she has seen over the years is a shift in tastes and attitudes, with people becoming far more discerning and knowledgeable about their wines. “Young 22 / Winepress August 2020
“Young people in particular are really on top of their game and know much more these days than they ever did before.” Helen Neame people in particular are really on top of their game and know much more these days than they ever did before,” she says. “It wasn’t that long ago that you would see people in the supermarket putting boxes of wine into their trolley.” During her near quarter century in the game, Helen has seen the exponential march of grapes throughout the province and a huge increase in wineries and cellar doors. She enjoys the camaraderie and networking between cellar doors and says everyone is working towards the same goal – promoting Marlborough wine. While Covid-19 has had an impact with several cellar doors closing permanently and others, like Hunter’s, closing for winter, Helen is confident for the future, particularly with domestic visitors. “Come Labour Weekend, I think we will start to see Marlborough get busy… It won’t be like it was in the past for a while, but that means we can offer people a more intimate service.” Cellar door hosting is not necessarily about selling wine, says Helen, who sees it much more as a marketing and branding excercise. “I’ve always felt cellar doors are the face of the winery and it really is all about the experience. The story is really important too, and people become really engaged when you tell them our story.” And she never tires of cellar door work, describing herself as a people person who becomes best friends with everyone who walks through the door. “You just want people to have a great time and leave feeling really happy and go to a liquor store and see the label and buy it.”
