The First Vintner

I drove Keith to the airport this morning. He has flown over to Wellington to stay with family for a few days. I will be busy at home caring for our menagerie in his absence.
Outside the terminal building is an interesting statue. It celebrates David Herd who planted grapes here in Marlborough in the late nineteenth century, thus becoming our first vintner.
The inscription below the statue reads:
“Pioneer David Herd established Marlborough’s first winery at Auntsfield in the hills to the south during the 1870s. He made highly regarded wine for many years. These first vines bore fine fruit and today Marlborough is New Zealand’s greatest wine region.
AD2008: Sculptor – John Fuller.”
This sculpture was commissioned by Auntsfield Estate Ltd. A visit to the present boutique winery tucked away in the hills to the south of Blenheim is well worth a visit for the scenery, history and I am told, the wine.