Pompallier - the Toast of Winemakers

New Zealand Historic Places Trust information release
24 December 2003

The French missionaries who established Pompallier at Russell brought more than printing expertise and religious zeal to New Zealand.

They also brought grapevines, and the skills to make good wine.

"Viticulture and wine-making were second nature to these Frenchmen from the Rhone Valley. They quite naturally produced wine for communion and their own consumption," says the Historic Places Trust's manager at Pompallier, Kate Martin.

Archaeological evidence also suggests an appreciation of good wine.

"In the past we've uncovered the remains of wine bottles, some of which held Chateau Lafitte," says Kate.

The vines the missionaries brought took root, and by 1842 one of the Brothers wrote home to report that there had been enough grapes harvested at Russell to make 121 bottles of white wine.

As well as being a centre for spreading Roman Catholicism in New Zealand and the wider Pacific, Pompallier's missionaries also became known for early excellence in wine-making.

"These Frenchmen were recorded as helping others locally in propagating and nurturing their vines - even exchanging ideas on caring for grapes with James Busby, the British Resident at Waitangi. In 1849, Governor Grey's wife wrote to one of the priests, Antoine Garin, to notify him of the prize he had won for the wine he had entered in a local exhibition," says Kate.

Things changed in 1850, however. As a result of increasing numbers of colonists settling in the main centres, the Catholic missionaries in the north were sent south to establish new headquarters in Auckland and Wellington. The vines were removed and most replanted in the Hawkes Bay.

"Today they are part of the Mission Estate Winery, though the vines can trace their 'whakapapa' back to the Rhone Valley through Pompallier at Russell," says Kate.

History will repeat itself during a Festival of History which will be held at Pompallier in Russell in April next year. Thanks to the generosity of Mission Estate Winery, people attending the symposium at Pompallier will once again be able to enjoy wine from vines that began life up the road.

In the meantime people can visit Pompallier - New Zealand's oldest industrial building - where they are able to experience for themselves pioneer mission technology and stories of the restored printery.

Enjoy your heritage - visit Pompallier.

For more information:

Contact: Kate Martin, Property Manager