The archives of the first 20 years of the NZ Listener, 1939-59, were published on the National Library’s Papers Past website in June. So, what happens if you select the most recent five-year period, 1955-59, go to the search bar and enter the word “wine”?
First up, an advertisement from the country’s largest winery. In the September 28, 1956, edition of the Listener, a smartly dressed couple were depicted listening to a huge radio, while clutching small sherry glasses. “Your very first sip will tell you there is no finer wine than Corban’s. Enjoy the wine you like best without waiting for special occasions … Corban’s wines add so much to everyday good living.”
The Listener’s June 7, 1957, edition included a reference to a French magazine, Réalities, which had apparently described this country as having no artistic or intellectual life. A Listener writer responded that New Zealanders “continue to be vast consumers of books and serious periodicals, and are even learning to drink wine with their meals”.
Enter Martyn Finlay, then vice-president of the Labour Party and later Minister of Justice. As a former vice-president of the Auckland Wine and Food Society, Finlay informed the Listener’s readers in the December 13, 1957, issue: “It’s a standing disgrace that New Zealand, if it has a reputation in the food world at all, is a gourmet’s purgatory … almost all local wine is sold on the hoof as it were – fresh, green, raw and often still fermenting.”
Readers looking for a bubbly were advised in an advertisement in the June 14, 1957, issue that “Moussec is here!” Labelled as a “Sparkling British Wine”, Moussec was made from imported grapes but achieved “its final elegance through the natural process of fermentation in an English winery”.
What about the wines flowing from West Auckland, made by immigrants from Dalmatia, in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia)? “The best Dally wine is good,” readers were assured in the November 9, 1956, issue, but “that matters little to us New Zealanders. We tend to buy a gallon for Saturday night and then spike it with a bottle of Australian whisky.”
The last word goes to composer Douglas Lilburn, describing his work A Birthday Offering in the October 19, 1956, issue. “Have I set out to uncork a bottle of champagne? Certainly not, but I hope the music may please some of those who like to taste a New Zealand wine.”
Wine of the week
Luna Estate Martinborough Pinot Noir 2023
★★★★
Looking for an affordable Martinborough red? Full-bodied, savoury and supple, this is a surprisingly complex, well-structured pinot noir, given its price. (13.5.alc/by vol) $23-$27
