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Wine Story Determination, friendship and a deep commitment to quality lies behind one of Marlborough’s longest enduring family-owned wineries. KAT PICKFORD talks to Warwick Foley and Edel Everling about the realisation of a joint dream, and the legacy of Johanneshof Estate. JOHANNESHOF ESTATE, perched prettily on steep slopes between Picton and Blenheim, is a labour of love for its founders, who’ve called it home for more than 30 years. This Koromiko winery, vineyard and underground cellar is also testament to Warwick Foley and Edeltraud (Edel) Everling’s resilience, and the “bloody hard work” it has taken to keep the business alive during three tumultuous decades. Warwick, who grew up on the property, hatched the idea of planting a vineyard on its steep gorse-covered hillsides in 1977, after he received a copy of Wines of the World for his 19th birthday. “I was brought up here and I always wanted to stay here, so I was looking for ways to work the land and make it more productive,” Warwick says. “When I saw the photos of the Mosel vineyards in Germany, planted on steep country, I thought, ‘if they’re doing that, why can’t I?’” The Marlborough wine industry was in its infancy, but not everyone was excited about its potential, and the Marlborough County Council banned any grapes from being planted north of the Wairau River. On advice from his lawyer, Warwick defied the rules and planted his first vine cuttings just five months after receiving the book. He created the first hillside vineyard in Marlborough, named ‘Maybern’ in honour of his parents May and Bernhard. “Planting just four years after Marlborough’s first plantings in 1973, I didn’t know what I was doing,” Warwick laughs. “There were no manuals, just a small group of people in Marlborough who were keen enough to have a go. “People thought I was mad, planting on a hillside slope, without irrigation.” Warwick’s first cuttings of Riesling and other varieties, sourced from Te Kauwhata Viticultural Research Station, were eventually replaced by grafted Pinot Noir vines. Meanwhile, Edel, who was born in Rüdesheim am Rhein, in the German wine region of Rheingau – renowned
“When I saw the photos of the Mosel vineyards in Germany, planted on steep country, I thought, ‘if they’re doing that, why can’t I?’”
20 / Winepress Feb 2024
Warwick Foley for its Riesling, Pinot Noir and aromatics – was travelling around New Zealand as part of a year-long solo world trip. Edel came from a winegrowing family and after spending her childhood holidays working in the vineyard and cellar as a “child labourer”, had no intention of becoming a winemaker. However, she gave up on her dream of becoming a surgeon when she was offered a job at the famous Geisenheim Wine Research Institute, in the grape breeding program. With a master’s degree in viticulture and oenology from Geisenheim University she went on to work in production and export at German wine estates before emigrating to New Zealand. Warwick, who had met Edel at Te Kauwhata in 1983, was keen to learn more about the wine industry from one of the world’s famous wine regions. So, he abandoned his newly planted vineyard and joined Edel as a guest student at Geisenheim while working in a number of iconic Rheingau wineries. Inspired by what he’d learned in Germany and their European travels, Warwick returned to Koromiko five years later, in 1990, ripped out the posts and vines, rotaryhoed the hillside and replanted the vineyard in Riesling, Pinot Noir and other varieties. Edel joined Warwick a year later, with all the earnest passion and energy of a graduate winemaker. “We wanted to stay true to the traditional
