Jeanette and Kim Goldwater in their tasting room, Nov 2003

Think back thirty years ago to 1974. What was the winegrowing scene like in Auckland, New Zealand? If you think lots of small producers 'out west' making ports and Sherries and table wines from hybrid vines, you’d probably be right. Thirty years ago Lincoln Road in the Henderson area north west of Auckland City was the epicentre of New Zealand's winemaking universe. There was a cluster of vineyards close by in the Kumeu district and a handful of producers a long way away on the East Coast of the North Island, in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.

But things were about to change. Matua Valley's Spence Brothers in Auckland had just produced their first Sauvignon Blanc and Montana, who were replanting vines after the previous years cuttings had shivered to death in their new Marlborough vineyards - where not many people thought grapes would grow anyway - discovered the real meaning of 'cool climate' viticulture.

Now it is 2004 and what is the winegrowing scene like in Auckland? Many readers might ask 'what scene?' as they think of New Zealand's more renowned vineyards in Marlborough, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne that together produce over 90 per cent of New Zealand's wine, or the smaller glamour regions like Central Otago, Nelson, Waipara and Martinborough. Because Henderson is now a city suburb and only a few hectares of vineyard remain amongst the massive urban sprawl.

But look further than Henderson for Auckland's wine names. Kumeu is being rediscovered, South Auckland is being developed and of course there is Waiheke Island. And as I mention Waiheke Island , you are probably saying 'of course'.

Thirty years ago the only grapevines on Waiheke Island were hybrid vines, vines that people grew along their fence to harvest for eating, if they could beat the birds to the crop. Waiheke Island was a primarily a holiday place with a few residents that commuted to the city to work.

Waiheke Island was a special place for surveyor Kim Goldwater, his wife Jeanette and their young family. The Auckland residents loved sailing and would take Kim's 32-foot Townson-design sloop called 'Shadow', that he built in his backyard out of Kauri timber, out on the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf every weekend. The sheltered waters of Waiheke Island's Putiki Bay were a favourite overnight haven.

Kim liked wine, having lived in Spain in the 1960's. He liked the European culture and lifestyle and he particularly liked fine French wine. The local tipple from the Dalmation immigrants left much to be desired and he hoped that the New Zealand winemakers would get their act together and starting making fine wines too.

As they sailed around Waiheke Kim noticed how different the climate was. When it rained on the mainland it seemed to be sunny and clear on the island and in the summertime the hills were burnt dry. It seemed like a Mediterranean maritime climate. He thought it would be a good place to grow grapes.

There was a piece of coastal land in Putiki Bay that Kim and Jeanette fell in love with, it had a sloping sunny aspect and the bay would provide a protective mooring for the yacht. And then the realisation struck home, what a perfect site for a vineyard. Kim could grow grapes and make the fine wine he wanted so much, himself.

However, despite several approaches, the absentee owner did not want to sell right then. It was his retirement plan.

Kim and Jeanette had a chunk of cash so they decided they would travel instead. The kids went into boarding school and they went to Sydney for a couple of weeks – via London, then spent some time discovering Afghanistan, Cashmere and Iran. Much to their surprise, when they returned in 1977, the property was advertised in the paper. They didn’t ask the price, they just straight around and bought the 11-acre property, derelict house and all.

Every weekend after they had finished work on Friday night, they'd be down at Westhaven loading up their yacht with bits and pieces for the property then sail to Waiheke, a two and to two-and-a-half hour journey in a good westerly wind. They'd toil on the property or work on the restoring the house, then slog home again. They did this every weekend until they finally moved there in 1983 and everything for their house, winery and vineyard was transported this way. It was probably the most used boat on the Waitemata.

They planted the vineyard almost straight away with 2 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon grafted on to 1202 rootstock. "It's not a particularly good rootstock, it was all that was available", said Kim. "The only good advice we got was 'plant on rootstock' but no-one really knew anything about it. We could have anything we liked so long as it was 1202". The vines went in first and the posts followed a year later, when they found a farmer who had a post rammer.

They also planted 50 vines of Golden Chasselas thinking they would sell the grapes at the gate to get some cash flow, but that eventually ended up as wine as well - harvest wine for the willing workers. They planted olive trees as well.

The first commercial vintage was 1982 and they put together a mailing list of friends and acquaintances hoping that they would buy some. The 200 cases of wine quickly sold out. Put this down to the media limelight that the Goldwaters seem to attract. The Auckland Star wine columnist lived on the island so he wrote about them in one of his columns - word about the Waiheke wine pioneers spread. But the real magic was on the eve of release when a 10-minute segment appeared on the local television news program 'Town and Around'. Their first media appearance and they’ve been in the limelight ever since.

Kim made the wine and the decisions from the outset he was happy with the result. 'Especially when you compared it to the hybrids", he says.

As soon as they realised they could make decent wine they extended the vineyard with plantings of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Eventually they had 20 acres of red wine grapes, having purchased the adjacent property in 1979.

They expanded to Marlborough in 1992, a result of two things. Firstly they had to get bigger in order to be able to employ people to do the work as they were getting older. Secondly, their agent in the UK, who had approached them in 1987 for some of their famous red, was soon requesting Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

In 1996 they bought the vineyard across the road on Waiheke, which is where they grow the grapes for the Goldwater Waiheke Island Zell Chardonnay.

Now, in June 2004, Kim Goldwater has announced his retirement from his role as winemaker for Goldwater Estate. From 200 cases of Waiheke Island Cabernet Sauvignon in 1982, Kim has driven the company to producing over 200,000 litres of wine from Marlborough and Waiheke, and more recently Hawkes Bay, with export markets in over 25 countries.

Kim will continue his commitment to the company as a Director of both Goldwater Estate Ltd and Rapaura Vintners Ltd, the Marlborough winery partly owned by Goldwater Estate, as well as continue to provide an advisory role for the winemaking at Goldwater.

He still maintains that Waiheke is the only place in New Zealand that ripens Cabernet Sauvignon successfully every year.

Let's drink a toast to Kim Goldwater, the pioneer of the Island of Wine, who together with Stonyridge Vineyard bought the island to the world's attention with their high profile wines. It's a profile they have deservedly retained over the years.

• On the web at www.goldwaterwine.com.

© Sue Courtney
June 2004