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Press Release - 06 June 2006

Grape growers and winemakers in the Matakana area have banded together to advance the interests and efforts of the industry in the North Rodney region. “The idea has been tossed around for several years and kicked into touch on a couple of occasions in the past but with the much larger number of growers now represented in the area it is an idea whose time has well and truly arrived" says Robin Ransom, the newly elected president of Matakana Winegrowers Incorporated.

The group held its inaugural AGM at the end of May in conjunction with a well attended end-of-vintage party. An earlier concept meeting had appointed a steering committee which determined a set of objectives. These focus around the idea of establishing credibility for the local region as a winegrowing area. This will involve such things as organising activities designed to ensure best practice in grape growing and wine making, and promoting acceptance of Matakana wines amongst wine consumers.

There are now approaching 30 commercial winegrowing enterprises in the wider Matakana area, and Matakana Winegrowers Inc expects the great majority will join the group. An early activity will be to conduct a census amongst members which will establish the scale of their operations, varieties of grapes grown, numbers of people employed, future plans, and so on. “We expect this will demonstrate that local winegrowers are now very significant players in the economy of the North Rodney region, and that our economic impact will continue to grow in years to come as newer plantings come into production” Robin says.

“Another early task will be to define the boundaries of our local winegrowing appellation, to ensure the regional identity of our wines and integrity in our labeling. This will be required in the future to enable us to export to such places as the EU which itself has very tightly controlled appellations” Robin says. Creating a local appellation will involve determining what constitutes “Matakana” for winegrowing purposes, because at present many of the local winegrowers are located in the wider areas of Ti Point-Omaha-Takatu and Mahurangi-Sandspit. The group expects that similarities in soils, climate and growing conditions will mean that vineyards in all these areas are likely to be included in the appellation.

Matakana Winegrowers Inc expects to work closely with two other high profile local organizations in helping promote the region – Matakana Coast Wine Country, and the Warkworth Visitor Information Centre. Several committee members of the new winegrowers group already serve on the committees of both of these organizations.