Chancers and Visionaries

Chancers and Visionaries

Keith Stewart

Publisher:Random House New Zealand Ltd

New Zealand's wine history. There's a lot more to it than you'd think! Most people know about the impact of Dalmatian immigrants on our wine industry. Some may remember that in the 1820s vines were planted at various places in the Far North. But given how vital the industry is these days and how much attention our distinctive New World wines get from overseas judges, we are all surprisingly hazy about what happened in between. How many New Zealanders know that had it not been for the Temperance movement and the aggression of the beer industry, we'd have had a thriving wine industry a century earlier than we did? How many know that if it weren't for Catholic priests, winemaking may have died out altogether? In this carefully researched, engagingly told history, well-known wine writer Keith Stewart uncovers the fascinating history of wine in this country and highlights the remarkable characters who believed in it and whose passion drove it forward, even in its darkest decades.

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