{"id":1244,"date":"2020-05-03T03:17:28","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T03:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2020-05-03T03:28:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T03:28:42","slug":"behind-the-scenes-at-rippon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=1244","title":{"rendered":"Behind the scenes at Rippon"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I arrange to meet Jo Mills<\/strong>, one of the key backroom staff at Rippon<\/strong>, on a sensational day in mid February, at the winery in Wanaka<\/strong>. Rippon Cellar Door has one of the most famous views in the region \u2013 probably only knocked into second place by \u2018that tree\u2019. And even by vineyard standards \u2013 which to be fair are pretty often in stunning locations \u2013 it\u2019s jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I wasn\u2019t the only person who arrived through the gate on the gravel path, and just stood agape at it. Snapping back to reality, I found Jo and we basked in the sun for a few minutes. I asked about the history of the wine, and that view\u2026<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Jo<\/strong>: Rolfe and Lois, Nick\u2019s parents, had been planning to build this building for quite literally thirty years. And the idea was that when we built this in 2011, was to bring everything up to the centre of the property and make it more efficient. Because our Cellar Door used to be down there, the wine store up there, the office over there \u2013 we were all over the place.<\/p>

Our reasons for moving away from the old Cellar Door was to bring people out of the vines themselves, for the health and safety of the vines and because, while this is private land, this has become a very public view up here, one which visitors never saw when the Cellar Door was down below.<\/p>

The plan is – what we really want to do – is build a new winery, but the winery alone doesn\u2019t bring any more income in. And as a farm \u2013 whether you\u2019re a grape farmer or a sheep farmer or a barley farmer \u2013 you\u2019ve got to look at diversifying your income streams. It\u2019s just part of your sustainability plans and keeping things going for the next generation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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So how can we get more people onto the property? So, we\u2019re looking at Events for the first time, but something that happens without compromising the core part of winemaking.<\/p>

It\u2019s interesting because way back, my sister-in-law did platters down below. But you know, pre-2006 which was my first year here, we just didn\u2019t have the footfall. We opened at eleven and shut at five, in the summer. We closed for two months, and in our winter months we opened from 1.30 to 4.30pm. Now, all year round we\u2019re open eleven to five. Even before the tide of tourists we\u2019re now seeing coming in, when we opened this Cellar Door in 2011, we\u2019d have days where you had no-one come in. So you\u2019d either shut early, or you\u2019d get one person come through and buy a bottle of sauvignon \u2013 wow!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Wanaka has erupted in the last five to ten years \u2013 certainly the last five years. So, offering cheese platters \u2013 that\u2019s compromising our core business because we\u2019re not restauranteurs. And when people come and expect a platter or something more\u2026 anyway\u2026 just to give you an idea – the Boxing day before last \u2013 in 2018, we had 230 people come through the Cellar Door – all un-booked because that\u2019s how we rolled. Three of us were running tastings at the same time in there. And people waiting outside. It was hot. People were getting bored. People felt like they were on a conveyor belt.<\/p>

And the land was suffering \u2013 and if we don\u2019t look after that then we\u2019ve lost, because if we don\u2019t have the land, we\u2019ve lost 120 years of farming. Our mental health was suffering, and we weren\u2019t delivering the experience that we wanted to, and that visitors wanted.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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There\u2019s this incredible thing about viticulture that we\u2019re in this unique position where we grow the grapes \u2013 we make the wine \u2013 we bottle the wine and we sell it. The man who grows the barley doesn\u2019t necessarily mill it into flour, never mind package it and sell it. It\u2019s a unique thing. As a team if you\u2019ve done the work in the vineyard and in the winery \u2013 and suddenly out here the wheels are falling off, then we\u2019ve let the whole team down. It took us over a year to implement it, but as of October we introduced a booking system. A lot of people are going \u2019what the heck are you doing?\u2019 At a time when Domaine Thomson<\/em> is opening a new tasting room, and Te Kano<\/em> is, and Maude<\/em> is opening for tastings \u2013 “why are you cutting yourselves off?”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We have to, to have a bit more control and give people the experience that we want to give. It\u2019s been amazing. There\u2019s been a bit of backlash, but again, once people hear it \u2013 they get it.<\/p>

It\u2019s a huge thing how Wanaka is struggling to cope with the numbers. We need sustainable tourism and we\u2019ve got to be responsible. A responsibility to the land and to all those people who are coming to Wanaka, and are going to go and spread the word. When people come to an experience \u2013 the sale at the end is ours to lose. And that\u2019s whether it\u2019s a bottle of wine at Rippon<\/em>; at Akitu<\/em>; or a skydive or wherever the people are going.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our idea is that it\u2019s calm, quiet and people get a moment to engage with the story. And for us, that\u2019s the third phase of Rippon. Having gone all out, it\u2019s a really fascinating time. Have you been to Gibbston Valley<\/em>? It\u2019s expanded with its new Lodge which is amazing; and they\u2019ve identified it as a way to put themselves out there.<\/p>

It\u2019s exciting to see the coming of age of the region. It\u2019s talked a lot about in terms of the wine, and the vines; but it\u2019s actually in terms of the tourism as well. It goes hand in hand, but people don\u2019t think look at that so much, because it\u2019s like it is vulgar to talk about the end product? As purists, winegrowers, we talk about our vines and our wines; but actually a huge part of it is understanding the links. We\u2019ll throw all our vineyard team out into the Cellar Door occasionally \u2013 which they hate!\u00a0<\/p>

I think that\u2019s really what the future of Central Otago, in terms of visitor experience, is \u2013 an authentic story.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We\u2019re blessed with a pretty good story; and although not everyone is fortunate to be fourth generation on their land \u2013 everyone does have their unique story. And they are genuine, not just a brand.<\/p>

An odd example is that the biggest-selling Central Otago Pinot overseas \u2013 we don\u2019t even know \u2013 it\u2019s called \u2018Squealing Pig\u2019 and it sells in Australia for $20, and no-one knows about it. There\u2019s a time and a place for that, and there\u2019s been interesting discussions again recently whether should we have that. At the recent Pinot Celebration, Elaine Chukan-Brown made the really good point that \u2018until she drank Liebfraumilch, she didn\u2019t know Germany made wine\u2019 And when she drank it, whether she liked it or not, she suddenly became aware of a place! And we dismiss the Squealing Pigs of the world as bottom feeders, but there is a place for those kind of wines. Not everyone can come in at a $65 price point. But, when you come here and you go to Maude, to Domaine Thomson, you feel it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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You just got 100 points off James Suckling?<\/strong>\u00a0That was amazing, but you\u2019ve got to be wary of hanging your hat too much on that sort of thing. That\u2019s just one person\u2019s opinion. There\u2019s reaction online saying \u201cwhy on earth did that get 100 points\u201d and that sort of thing. One man\u2019s 100 points is another man\u2019s 70. Each to their own. It was amazing and I love that wine, don\u2019t get me wrong. And it\u2019s given us and the region recognition. There was a winery I used to work at in New Zealand, and they\u2019d won an award many years earlier. And when I was there, they were selling three vintages later, and they were still talking about that wine as the \u201cWorld\u2019s best Pinot\u201d. Well, that\u2019s not strictly true is it.. and also \u2013 what makes the \u201cWorld\u2019s Best Pinot\u201d? This is one opinion of the wines that were at this event.<\/p>

Your husband is the winemaker?\u00a0<\/strong>Yes \u2013 he hates the term! We\u2019ve both lived and worked in France, and in France you\u2019ve got the term \u201cvigneron\u201d which doesn\u2019t translate over here but is effectively the idea of a \u2018winegrower\u2019 He is \u2013 he\u2019s the central \u2018ego\u2019 of the property \u2013 in a positive sense of the word. We are all winegrowers \u2013 we have this idea of the winemaker in his winery (and it is generally a man) who is not necessarily out in the vines. Our Vineyard Manager, Shannon, she is every bit as much as the winemaker as everyone else. She spends a lot of time at harvest up in the winery. But Nick is the \u2018overlord\u2019 \u2013 at Rippon at least (laughs).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Nick\u2019s Great-Grandfather, Percy, bought the land in 1912, and originally the Station was 34,000 hectares. It went pretty much all the way out to Alberttown, and out to Spotts Creek which is this side of Cardrona. You\u2019d think there were no vines then, but it\u2019s really interesting that when Lois was going through some old family letters, written in 1895, there\u2019s a mention of a lecture that Romeo Bragato had given about planting in Central Otago. And Percy, who was involved in building the railways, looked at the financial feasibility of planting vines in Central Otago.<\/p>

Rolfe, Nick\u2019s father was a submarine lieutenant in WW2, and he spent time in the Atlantic, off the coast of Portugal \u2013 and saw the vines in the Douro. He had a lightbulb moment in terms of the possibility of planting here. But what we\u2019ve concluded is that wine was on his mind anyway. Wine was always on the table, at a time when that was not the norm in New Zealand. In the early 80s no-one had planted south of Christchurch. You had Alan Brady planting in Gibbston, Annie Pinckney over that way \u2013 she was the only one of the originals who had any viticulture knowledge \u2013 you had the Grants and Burgess\u2019 over in Alexandra.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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No-one really knew what they were doing, and the advice was \u2018stick to your goats\u2019, but they didn\u2019t. And they were given about 30 trial varieties from Te Kauwhata \u2013 sadly we don\u2019t have the original lists; I\u2019d love to know. There were 15 rows down in Tinkers Field. Our oldest vines are \u201982 plantings and 80% are on their own roots. We don\u2019t buy in any other fruit, so all fruit is from here. All of our wines are therefore Single Vineyard wines. Everything is done here except the bottling which is done in Cromwell.<\/p>

But when Percy died, there were death duties \u2013 so half your assets, and all we had was land \u2013 went to the Crown. So we lost a helluva lot of land. We ended up down at 1000 hectares, and while were able to buy some of the land back, we had to sell land during the period of planting here. A lot of assets were tied up in stocks, so when the Stock Market crashed in the \u201880s, we lost everything. So what we\u2019ve got now is about 15 hectares of vines, and about 30 hectares of farmland. Our cousins have got about the same, so 90 hectares is all that\u2019s left of Wanaka Station.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The only reason we grow here is because we\u2019ve had it so long. About 15 years ago Nick and I looked at the possibility of doing something ourselves, just the two of us \u2013 up the valley. Beautiful land, but prime real estate. It\u2019s sad because you see these spots and think \u2018vines would be amazing here\u2019 but financially it doesn\u2019t stack up any more. Wanaka is ever-encroaching, and it becomes a little haven for us.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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For the next generation we hope to pass on our understanding of how fortunate we are to have this moment on the land<\/strong>; and instil a love of the land.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I arrange to meet Jo Mills, one of the key backroom staff at Rippon, on a sensational day in mid February, at the winery in Wanaka. Rippon Cellar Door has … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing-about-wine","category-nz-wine-regions"],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the scenes at Rippon - WineFolio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=1244\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the scenes at Rippon - WineFolio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I arrange to meet Jo Mills, one of the key backroom staff at Rippon, on a sensational day in mid February, at the winery in Wanaka. 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