Keeping it in the family

Ti Point in Matakana is home to family-run Ti Point winery. Photo / Supplied

This vintage, four generations of females worked together to bring in the grape harvest at Matakana's Ti Point estate. For the first time, Ruby, aged six, put in a day's graft picking grapes with her mother and Ti Point winemaker, Tracy Haslam, along with grandmother, Jan - who co-owns the vineyard with Tracy - and great-grandmother, Eileen, the "on-site matriarch".

Wine may not be the male bastion that it was traditionally, but to find so many generations of women at one winery is a rare thing both here and abroad. Even if Ruby decides not to follow in the footsteps of the other females of her family, having three generations already actively involved is something that's celebrated at Ti Point.

Ti Point was the brainchild of Tracy. After studying winemaking in New Zealand and working vintages in Italy, France, California and Switzerland, as well as locally, she became convinced that her family's property just outside Leigh on the Matakana Coast was perfect for growing red grapes.

Inspired by her experience of Saint-Emilion, she planted merlot, cabernet franc and malbec in 1999 on the site's north facing slope, with some syrah added to the mix a couple of years ago.

Since then Ti Point has expanded its range beyond the original estate, sourcing varieties from growers in Hawkes Bay, Gisborne and Marlborough. But Ti Point is committed to keeping its production small and has no desire to see its wines on supermarket shelves.

"I want to keep focused on small parcels of grapes from vineyards I have great relationships with," explains Tracy, "but at the same time make wines that are priced for everyone to enjoy."

Tracy admits she's in her element when working with women. They've tended to be her main colleagues over her career and the staff she's employed in her own business.

"In the winery, females are a lot fussier," she notes.

"And if I want help with fiddly work I tend to get Marg, my sister-in-law, to help."

However, being a female winemaker comes with its challenges.

"In Italy and France the male cellar hands didn't like it to start with, and it took a long time to prove to them that I was up to it," she recalls.

"I remember when I sat my heavy truck licence many years ago I passed, but four other guys I was working with at the time all failed - I got a lot of mileage out of that!"

"I also found it very hard when Mum and I were doing all the work on the vineyard ourselves," says Tracy, who, prompted by her own growing family, now employs vineyard manager, Alistair Noakes, to assist them.

"We had very old machinery and the vineyard is very steep in places. There were times, for example when changing machinery on the tractor, when I was sometimes just not strong enough and would have to ring the neighbouring farmer. Or at pruning time: doing main cuts all day would kill me!"

With four children, the youngest of whom is just six months old, Tracy - like many other women - is faced with the challenges of balancing the work she loves with motherhood.

"My kids are young and the near future will be a juggle, but in the long term I hope to keep doing what we are doing now, just fine-tuning the vineyards and winemaking to make the best wines possible."

"I come from a long line of dominant females and have a huge respect for my mother and grandmother, who are both my role models," says Tracy.

"Ti Point is about family: the generations before me and my own children. It brings us all together and that's very important for me."

Ti Point Matakana Coast Syrah 2008 $21.90

This year Ti Point released the first syrah from its Matakana home vineyard. Grapes for this limited edition release were hand-picked from the estate's young vines in a year that experienced its hottest summer since 1998, resulting in very high quality ripe grapes, according to Tracy. It's an attractively fresh and fruity midweight syrah, with soft ripe boysenberry and cherry fruit and hints of dark chocolate and licorice, seasoned with white pepper and spice. Just two barrels of this promising debut were made.

"I planted six different clones of syrah to add to complexity and this is what we got," says Tracy.

"As it is our first harvest of syrah I was pleasantly surprised at how well it grows at Ti Point and will look at further planting."

Ti Point Matakana Coast Syrah 2008 is available from selected fine wine outlets.