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Industry Pioneer Frank Yukich - the passing of a prophet TESSA NICHOLSON
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DETERMINED, VISIONARY, indefatigable and a prophet. These are descriptions offered by those who knew Frank Yukich, who died on October 21, aged 89. Frank was the stuff legends are made of, and his singleminded dedication to placing New Zealand wine on the world map changed this country’s wine industry forever. His legendary status as the head of Montana Wines is irrefutable. The company begun by his father Ivan back in the 1940s was for many years the producer of some pretty ordinary wines on a small scale. It was in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, when Frank was heading the company, that the vision changed somewhat. He wanted to move away from producing sheer volumes of wine, to producing wines of quality that would take New Zealand to the world. Looking to expand the company’s holdings outside of Auckland, Mangatangi and Gisborne, he considered Hawke’s Bay, but looked to Marlborough instead, after speaking to young DSIR scientist Wayne Thomas – soon to become Montana Wines’ head viticulturist- about growing wines that could be exported. Frank always gave credit to Wayne for convincing him to have a look at the top of the South Island. In July 1973, Frank and Wayne flew into Marlborough to look at tracts of land with real estate agent John Marris. Aware that if the landowners knew what the men were looking to do, prices would spike, the entire trip to
Frank places a silver coin in a hole in which a vine is to be planted, in 1973. Phot from Marlborough Museum
Marlborough was clandestine. Under the auspices of a company known as Cloudy Bay Properties, (yeah, that’s part of the legend), Frank and Wayne drove around the province settling on nine potential properties. Times were tough in Marlborough at the time and Frank capitalised on that. Despite none of the properties actually being on the market, he convinced nine owners to sell straight out, without telling anyone what he wanted the land for. Those nine properties equated to 2,900 acres (1,175 hectares), and cost $1.4 million. It was all very well having a great idea, but a non-refundable deposit of 10% was required to secure the deals. Given the Montana board had no idea what Frank was up to, he had to raise the funds himself, which he did by mortgaging his own Auckland property. Once the deposits had been made, Frank told the board about the Marlborough expansion, looking for a refund of the deposit. But the board refused to endorse the land purchases, leaving Frank facing a $140,000 debt. In the end, Wayne Thomas, who was in the US at the time, asked four professors from the University of California, Davis, to back up research showing Marlborough had the
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