Mission Estate Winery is

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's oldest surviving winemaking concern, first established in the

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

in 1851 by French

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Marist missionaries for producing

sacramental wine Sacramental wine, Communion wine, altar wine, or wine for consecration is wine obtained from grapes and intended for use in celebration of the Eucharist (also referred to as the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, among other names). It is usually ...

. It is one of the largest wineries in the Hawke's Bay and remains wholly New Zealand owned.

History

Marist missionaries, in order to make sacramental wine, were the first to introduce

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

to the

Hawke's Bay Region Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

, planting the first vineyards in 1851 at the original mission station in

Pakowhai Pakowhai is a small settlement in the Hastings District and Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is a located between Napier and Hastings, north of the Ngaruroro River. Mission Estate Winery established its first vineyard in H ...

. The mission moved north to Meeanee in 1858, taking its cottage with it using

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any ...

s, and subsequently building residence halls, a school, and St Mary's Church (built 1863). More vineyards were planted at Meeanee, and the mission recorded its first commercial sale of wines in 1870. In 1880 the mission built its seminary building at Meeanee, the two-storey ' (French, "the grand house"), and purchased a large plot of land nearby in Taradale in 1897, where more vineyards were planted. The vines were tended by travelling from Meeanee, however disastrous flooding in 1909 prompted the mission to move its operations to the Taradale location. In 1911 the wooden ''La Grande Maison'' building was sawn into 11 separate pieces and transported to its current location over two days, using traction engines. The

1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47am on 3 February, killing 256,The exact number of deaths varies according to different sources; the ''New Zealand Listener'' article cited be ...

caused extensive damage to the region and the mission estate, including the loss of nine lives when the stone chapel was destroyed. The early 21st century saw Mission Estate undergo considerable expansion, mirroring the overall expansion of the New Zealand wine industry. New buildings and facilities at Mission Estate were opened in 2007, greatly increasing its wine production capacity. In 2012, Mission Estate purchased of

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

vineyards after the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

forced Cape Campbell Wines, the former owner of the land, into receivership. In 2017, Mission Estate took over ownership of founding Bridge Pa Triangle winery Ngatarawa Wines when its owners, Alwyn and Brian Corban (whose family established the

Corbans Corbans Wines was one of New Zealand wine, New Zealand's oldest wineries, established in 1902 by Assid Abraham Corban, a Lebanon, Lebanese immigrant who had arrived in New Zealand ten years earlier. Corbans Wines grew to become the second largest ...

winery), reached retirement age.

Concerts

Following the death of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

in 2009, Mission Estate Winery announced their hosting of The Motown Event; a concert featuring various artists of the Motown music era, to take place on February 13, 2010. Featuring various artists such as

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon Barnes ( Swan; born 28 April 1956) is an Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-selling Australian music a ...

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

and

Martha Reeves Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas, which scored several major Hot 100 hits such as " Nowhere to Run", "Heat ...

, the concert sold out and was a critical and financial success.

References

{{authority control Wineries of New Zealand