WellingtonNZ.com,
New Zealand 

Throwing a ball backwards when you want it to go forwards seemed a bit odd to Larry McKenna, once upon a time.
 

But that was more than twenty years ago in Adelaide, and Aussie Rules Football is about as far behind the Wairarapa winemaker as a cork festooned Akubra.

Wairarapa is the home to more than 50 boutique vineyards, and comprises the central section of the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail.

Perched on the terraces above the Ruamahunga River in Martinborough, Larry’s vineyard Escarpment grows the lifeblood of the region, Pinot Noir.

Further up river on the rocky soil at Gladstone Vineyard sits another expat and one of only three Scottish women winemakers in the world, Christine Kernohan.

Both of them are far away from the bright lights of Wellington Regional Stadium, but both are looking forward to Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand.

The similarities between growing Pinot Noir and playing Rugby boil down to a simple link.

“The competitive nature of both of the games, it’s a tough business,” Larry says.

Pinot Noir is an ornery varietal, requiring hard manual labour and patience.

“Passion and commitment” are what sets the successful Pinot Noir winemakers apart from the rest, Christine says.

Gladstone Vineyard’s Pinot Noir has won gold at the International Wine Challenge in London five years running,

Her husband David played Rugby for Glasgow before they came out to New Zealand and bought into Gladstone, the first north Wairarapa vineyard.

The camaraderie and friendships that David had become used to in the Rugby circles of Scotland were akin to what they found in the wine region just over the hill from the capital city.

The local Rugby comes from strong roots and has the infamous Wairarapa Bush club, which turned out famous All Blacks Buck Anderson and Brian Lochore and has surged into the Kiwi Rugby spotlight throughout its 124-year history.
“Wairarapa Bush is an absolute institution around here,” Larry says.

His Australian Rules Football sporting ties long since severed, his accent gives away where the loyalties lie in his adopted code of Rugby Union. “It’s the Wallabies, every time,” he admits.

The Tournament in 2011 will showcase the New Zealand Rugby passion that Larry and Christine found in moving to Wellington’s local wine region, and in turn they are looking forward to showing the visitors the best that Wairarapa vines can produce.

Christine has already bottled her story under the 12,000 Miles label.

“I like to say this is my luggage tag that has got me back and forth from Glasgow to Gladstone. It’ll be a bit of fun for the Rugby fans coming over for the Rugby World Cup 2011, from all of 12,000 miles away.”