New Zealand

New Zealand was a latecomer to winemaking in the Southern Hemisphere, with the first vines planted in 1819. Vineyards were established in Chile and Argentina around 100 years before the first European, Abel Tasman, even set eyes on New Zealand, in 1642. New Zealand’s initial plantings were in Kerikeri, in what is now Northland, a region that continues to make a small amount of wine in humid conditions. The cuttings were brought to the country from Australia by English missionary Samuel Marsden. There is no record of the wine these vines produced, if any, but in Marsden’s diary of September 25, 1819, he notes, “New Zealand promises to be very favorable to the wine, as far as I can judge at present of the nature of the soils and climate. Should it succeed it will prove of vast importance in this part of the globe.” More than 200 years later, his prediction has come true, but due to a blend of social, cultural, and legal impediments, it has taken a long time for New Zealand to fulfil its potential. 

The major wave of migration to New Zealand in the 19th century came from Britain, a whisky-drinking, beer-swilling nation. There was no tradition of growing grapevines in Britain at that time, whereas the Spanish missionaries exported their wine culture to South America, and Central Europeans shipped vines to their new homes in South Australia. There were a few wine buffs among the British, including Scottish-born James Busby, who landed in New Zealand in 1833 and brought in cuttings he had previously imported to Sydney, Australia. Records suggest that these vines were responsible for producing the country’s first wine. In 1840, French naval officer Jules Dumont d’Urville tasted the fruits of Busby’s vines, having rowed ashore from his ship Astrolabe. In his journal,