CELEBRATE
Industry Pioneer European roots to ground-breaking Picton winery BRENDA WEBB
SUNDAY AFTERNOON pilgrimages to his parents’ home brewing friends instilled a love of wine in Warwick Foley as a young teenager. “You’d end up trying a black doris plum red wine in their living room. And my dad made gorse petal wine.” These days Warwick and business partner Edel Everling produce a small quantity of high quality wines under the Johanneshof label from their Koromiko vineyard and cellar. They’re passionate about what they do and remain true to their roots, which are immersed in traditional European methods. But back in 1978, when Warwick planted grapes on his parents’ Koromiko hillside, he was taking a punt in an industry making it up as it went along. “I just thought I’d give it a go.” The “naïve” 19-year-old, just out of school, approached what was then the Rural Bank for money to buy an 8 hectare block at Omaka Valley, which was selling for $30,000 with a 15-year contract to grow Müller-Thurgau. The bank asked what experience he had, then turned him down flat. Undeterred, Warwick went back to Koromiko and did soil tests before planting an odd array of vines, despite grape growing not being allowed north of the Wairau River at that stage. “It was the time that Phil Rose and all those guys were battling the council,” recalls Warwick. “You had to get a permit for change of use and it was hard.” In the 1970s and ‘80s, the Wairau Plains were patchworked with orchards, cropping, and sheep and beef farming, and grapes were the exception. Allen Hogan was in his early days at Te Whare Ra and Ernie Hunter was starting out on Rapaura Rd. “I met Ernie – an affable Irishman – and we charged up to Massey (University) in an old Range Rover to go to some winemaking and viticulture courses,” Warwick says. “It was a really nice industry back then – everyone knew each other and there were no egos.” In 1982, Warwick asked Ernie if he could take cuttings from his Riesling, propagated new plants then grew them on 24 / Winepress September 2020
“We are still very passionate about what we do.” their own roots at Koromiko, having pulled out his original vines. “Everyone thought I was nuts – planting on a hillside in an area they thought was too cold.” His faith was driven by a photograph he saw in a Wines of the World book given to him by his parents. The photo showed Riesling vineyards on steep and cold hillsides in Germany. A few years later he met Edel, from Rheingau in Germany, who was in New Zealand on her OE. And he followed her back to her home country, where his planned five-month stint turned into five years, as Edel undertook a degree in viticulture and oenology, while Warwick cherrypicked the subjects he wanted. “Edel was studying technical subjects like organic chemistry, maths, physics and German wine law, while I just needed to know how to make the bloody stuff.” During holidays and weekends off, the couple would visit wine growing regions in France and Germany and it was during this time they developed their love of Gewürztraminer. “We’d go to Alsace regularly and eat and drink really well and go to great wineries and we fell in love with Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris. Gewürztraminer is an awesome variety – we loved its headiness and opulence – it’s so powerful and weighty.” The couple also loved the underground cellars they visited, especially doing tastings where it felt very tactile and hands-on. They used their time in Germany to buy machinery and came home with a container full of equipment, including a press bought from Oppenheim. When they arrived back in New Zealand in 1990, the industry was still in its infancy, says Warwick. He got a job with Corbans through Alan McCorkindale, who he’d met in Germany. “We thought we were pretty big doing 1,500 tonnes,” he laughs. Finding work wasn’t easy for Edel though and the couple became disillusioned. While well qualified, Edel wasn’t French, and “it was a hard road for a
