Are you of legal drinking age in your country of residence?
Are you of legal drinking age in your country of residence?
The great stories and people that make up the New Zealand wine industry.
Jenny Dobson was 22 and blissfully naïve when she left New Zealand for France in 1979, with a chemistry degree, a love of wine and an ambition to become a winemaker. Forty-six years later, Jenny been named a 2025 New Zealand Winegrowers Fellow, and is as passionate as ever about her vocation, including running her own bespoke Hawke’s Bay wine label and championing New Zealand wine, here and abroad. “I am very, very humbled to be awarded this fellowship,” she says. “Because I am doing what I love.”
Gwyn, who didn’t plan to start a viticulture career 40 years ago, but “went along for the ride”, has been named a 2025 NZW Fellow, recognising his services to sustainability.
Judy, who has been named a 2025 New Zealand Winegrowers Fellow for services to wine marketing, has embraced community in myriad ways over the past 47 years, as a longstanding member of Nelson Winegrowers and the Wine Institute marketing committee, a founding member of the Family of Twelve, three terms on the organising committee of New Zealand’s Pinot Noir celebration, the instigator of the annual Neudorf concert and the Moutere Artisans, and a go-to person for anyone looking for marketing advice. “I think collaborative marketing is part of New Zealand’s wine culture,” she says. “And it is such a great strength.”
Mark Allen is well known for shaking the proverbial tree when it comes to getting vine research into vineyard action. Mechanical shaking, subsurface irrigation and long spur pruning are examples of wine research that makes perfect sense for growers, says Mark, one of the 2025 New Zealand Winegrowers Fellows, recognised for his unrelenting services to research and extension. “If we keep innovating, we can continue to succeed.”
Thirty-three years after he traded cosmetics and cleaning products for a career in wine, Clive has been named a 2025 New Zealand Winegrowers Fellow, recognising 15 years in wine governance, including as chair of the Marlborough Winegrowers and NZW boards.
Pioneering Marlborough photographer and winemaker Kevin Judd has been named the 2025 Marlborough Living Cultural Treasure.
Emma Jenkins’ MW Musings
A high-resolution vineyard view of ecoclimatic indicators, and how they impact wine quality, can turn “climate insights into strategy”, says climate risk specialist Pete Taylor. “Whether you’re a grower, winemaker, or industry leader, understanding the future is key to staying ahead.”
