Armed with a Bachelor of Commerce & Management, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Viticulture & Oenology and more than two decades of winemaking in New Zealand with vintages in Burgundy, Oregon and Germany, he now has the freedom to explore ideas that resonate with him.
Maxwell’s advice to anyone thinking of setting out on their own? “Start small. I began with two barrels of Forager several years ago, building it gradually.”
In August, he launched a second string to his brand’s bow, with Potager Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. So far, smooth sailing, but the risks are real and having support is key, Maxwell said.
“Having a partner who believes in you is crucial. Nadia, my wife, knows my weaknesses better than I do. It’s awesome. Listening and being open can lead to great ideas, which don’t always come along neatly packaged but as thoughts that can grow.”
To manage the financial risk, Maxwell built his brand while still working his day job – launching Forager Wines in 2012 and taking a few years to build brand awareness before going into it fulltime.
A successful background in wine also helped. While working at Greystone Wines, he was part of the team that won Best Pinot Noir in the World at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2014 with a 2012 Greystone Thomas Brothers Pinot Noir.
The win built trust between Greystone’s owners and Maxwell, so they supported his idea to create New Zealand’s first “vineyard ferment” wine. It was a risky venture. A tank was permanently situated in the middle of a chilly North Canterbury vineyard site, where cool temperatures slowed fermentation. However, the result is a Pinot Noir with depth and delicacy that expresses the site in a literal sense. It’s a concept Maxwell has carried over to his own brand, Forager, made from a vineyard called Isolated Hill.
“Stripping it back and going out on my own means more opportunity to focus on what I want. There’s a sense of purpose.”
Try this: 2023 Forager Pinot Noir RRP $55
This is the 11th release of Forager Pinot Noir and it’s a lighter vintage with a flavoursome core of fragrant fruit, subtle spice and floral notes, held in a firm structure with a mellow smooth body. foragerwine.co.nz
Tony Bish
Tony Bish Wines and the Urban Winery
Tony Bish is one of the best-known names in Hawke’s Bay wine, but the defining chapter of his own brand didn’t begin in a vineyard. It began in a meeting room where the sense of compromise became too much for him.
“I didn’t want to lie awake at night, stewing over things any more,” says Bish, who quit his day job in 2016 and has become New Zealand’s “Chardonnista”, owning a brand entirely dedicated to Chardonnay.
For Bish, the turning point came after he shared ideas during a meeting and was met with resistance rather than curiosity.
“I thought to myself: put up or shut up. I’d wanted to do my own thing subliminally for a long time, so I gave up a solid salary with no guarantee of income and in 2017, leased one of Napier’s art deco buildings and turned it into the city’s Urban Winery.”
Similar to Maxwell, Bish had already started producing wines before quitting his job. In 2013, he produced his first “Fat & Sassy Chardonnay” while still working for Sacred Hill Wines. This side project also saw him make small volumes of Skeetfield and Golden Egg Chardonnays in 2015, but cash flow was tight.
“It was scary going out alone but it became really clear that I wanted to focus on making one-varietal wine,” he said.
From a low-capital base, single-variety Chardonnay made sense as it required less equipment. He has also experimented with concrete egg-shaped fermentation vessels he spotted during a trip to Argentina.
“Finding a concrete specialist willing to experiment was difficult; designing them was harder. We f****d up and broke them until we got one that worked.
“When you commit to one variety, every thought sharpens. The first Chardonnay made in the ”egg” signalled exactly what we stood for – about not having to play it safe.”
The biggest risks of striking out have been cash flow and weather. “Imagine if Cyclone Gabrielle had been our first year. We lost 80% of our grapes in 2023 due to the cyclone. If that had hit at the wrong time, it would have been ‘Oh my god. What was I thinking?’”
However, the benefits outweigh the risks for Bish, who has the freedom to innovate without constraint. His son Oscar and his youngest daughter also now work with him, which Bish says is “hugely rewarding”.
Try this: 2024 Tony Bish Zen Chardonnay RRP $149.95
Zen is the pinnacle of Tony Bish’s Chardonnays and expresses depth of flavour, balance and purity with aromas of fleshy white peach, zesty lemon and a smooth, full-bodied style from a strong vintage – 2024. It is made from grapes grown in Ohiti Valley in Hawke’s Bay.
Jannine Rickards
Huntress Wines
“You’re not going to make millions in this industry, so you might as well follow your dream and do it well,” says winemaker Jannine Rickards, who gave up her day job in 2024 to focus on her brand, Huntress Wines.
Rickards had already dipped her toes in the waters of sole trading by making a small volume of Pinot Noir in 2017 while working full time at Urlar winery in the Wairarapa. When she stepped away from salaried winemaking, she felt free from commercial layers that can blur the story of where wine comes from … the whenua (land).
Her overarching mantra is to make wines that express place, and in late September she was about to bottle her first wine from a vineyard in North Canterbury. It’s a region close to her heart, as she previously worked full-time at Pegasus Bay winery. However, shipping wine between islands adds complexity, so she plans to focus on vineyard sites in the North Island.
When she made her first wines, she never imagined Huntress would become a full-time business. Then, steadily, the brand continued to grow until it became something worth going “all in” on.
Starting and expanding a small wine business during a cautious economic period means navigating rising costs and a market that isn’t always ready to take risks. To manage this, Rickards has kept Huntress lean and strengthened relationships to carry her brand forward, including with her distributor, The Last Drop, and with grape growers who share her ethics.
“I have creative freedom to explore the world of wine. Small vineyard sites across Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay and North Canterbury have all been rewarding. It’s also good to work only with organic grapes, which has limits, but it’s where I want to be.”
Try this: 2024 Huntress Pinot Noir Pawero RRP $70
Three barrels of Pawero Pinot Noir were made from organic grapes grown in Martinborough. This dark fruit-scented Pinot Noir is driven by vibrant, concentrated red berry aromas and earthy appeal with outstanding structural lift and depth.
Kate Radburnd
Radburnd Cellars
A glass of Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay goes down well in Kate Radburnd’s household and tastes more rewarding now that she is about to step into a winery building of her own. In September this year, she and her husband, Simon, purchased the historic Stonecroft Winery from Fistonich Family Vineyards. It’s brought an enormous sense of relief to Radburnd, who lost nearly everything in 2023 due to Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Did we think we’d buy a winery at our age? Not at all but it felt right and now our team has security for the future of Radburnd Wines,” she said.
Rather than slowly building a brand from the security of a full-time job, Radburnd launched Radburnd Cellars in 2018, a year after she had resigned from CJ Pask and sold her company shares.
What made her leave a big brand for uncharted territory as a sole trader? “The business had grown about tenfold and we were trying to be everything to everybody. I wanted to start fresh with a clean slate.” She left CJ Pask at the end of the 2017 vintage, planned her own brand and made her first Radburnd wine in 2018. She now makes three wines, which keeps her focus tight and quality-driven.
Disaster struck in 2023 after the cyclones, but she never considered quitting, so they briefly relocated to some cool stores and then to Bostock (the former Ngatarawa winery) in 2024. This year she will move to her own facility at the old Stonecroft winery.
Wine arrived early in Radburnd’s life. “My parents adored wine, talked about it and let me have a tiny glass when I was about 10 – just enough to taste. I learned that wine is a conversation.”
That conversation, along with small tastes of Clare Valley Riesling and Coonawarra reds, carried her to Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia. She was the only woman in her year and when Villa Maria Wines founder, Sir George Fistonich, visited to interview graduates, Radburnd applied and got a job at Vidal’s Wines in Hawke’s Bay. The rest is history. And the biggest reward of starting her own brand is?
“A fresh start and working with my daughter, Penelope, who brings me joy every day.”
Try this: 2024 Radburnd Chardonnay RRP $85
Refined, confident and powerful Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay, led by aromas of citrus, white peach, hints of hazelnut and a full-bodied drive on the palate.
