TEAM

Our team is top of its class in every area


Dedicated and skilled, each of our team members heard the call to Mahana and bring with them experience and knowledge from around the world, as well as a deep understanding of the local region. We work at bringing out the best in each other and the best of Mahana.

Winery

Michael Glover

Winemaker

Jane Faulkner of the James Halliday Wine Companion Magazine April/May 2015 says, “Michael is a deep thinker, one of the most perceptive, intelligent, considered yet rebellious winemakers. After 20-plus years making wine, he no longer accepts anything as given. He doesn’t simply question the status quo; he challenges it,”

Michael Glover left his family’s small vineyard, which is just a few kilometres away from Mahana, back in 1993 to complete a Wine Science degree at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Australia. The intention was always to return but having met his wife Catherine whilst studying, his return was delayed by about twenty-two years. While in Australia, he worked as a winemaker in the Hunter Valley at The Rothbury Estate, when it was still in the hands of the legendary Len Evans. After five years in the Hunter, he went to the cooler climates of Tasmania, where he worked for Moorilla Estate. After the departure of long time Winemaker, Gary Farr, Michael was recruited to iconic Bannockburn Vineyards in Geelong. It was here that he was truly given free reign to begin exploring unique winemaking practices and began to develop his own personal style.

Over the years he vintaged at wineries in Campania, Puglia, Sardinia, Tuscany, Mosel, Provence and Burgundy constantly honing his ability and broadening his knowledge base. Having worked with many great producers with strong philosophies in Europe, Michael says he has no doubt that great wine comes from great vineyards producing great grapes. “The limiting factor of any wine is the site. You could be the greatest winemaker on the planet, but you’re only as good as your site,” he submits.

“Mahana gives me the opportunity to make wine from dry-grown and organically managed vineyards that produce fruit requiring no ‘extraneous’ additions. The winemaking takes place in a winery that is purpose-built to use gravity rather than pumps. For me…it is as authentic and as pure as it can be.”

Adrian Mann

Assistant Winemaker & Cellar Master

The role of the Assistant Winemaker and Cellar Master is a comprehensive one which requires an exceptional, in-depth and practical understanding of all processes and movements.  From the first pickings off the vine to the last label rolled onto the bottle, the Cellar Master carries great responsibility in ensuring that all runs smoothly in the winery and that our philosophy is carried out in every step along the way.

Adrian has been native to the Tasman region since 1995 when he and his wife, Gretchen moved back to raise their children closer to the family’s roots.  Gretchen’s grandfather, Viggo duFresne, was from the Nelson area and was good friends with Toss Wollaston. He planted some of the very first grapes in the region and even had what is known to be the region’s first gravity-flow winery.

Adrian’s personal philosophy centres on producing wines that are individualistic and as much about the terroir as the people involved.  “Producing great wine encompasses far more than simply working with what comes into the winery – instead requiring significant input from our people at harvest, in processing, handling in the cellar, to bottling and distribution,” he explains.

The role of Assistant Winemaker and Cellar Master is certainly one of the busiest at the winery; Adrian says he enjoys the diversity of the day to day, but he also appreciates his time spent outside the winery, working on classic cars and exploring Aotearoa with the family in the campervan.

Vineyard

Julian Coakley

Vineyard Manager & Viticulturist

Julian, originally from Christchurch, worked in the vineyards of Canterbury to pay his way through university, where he earned a degree in Classics.   After graduating, he moved to Nelson where he ended up working with vines for the next six years.  During this time Julian says he often contemplated the rolling hills of what was then a sprawling apple orchard in Mahana, daydreaming about developing vineyards on this land, which he reckoned would be one of the best sites in the country for producing premium Pinot Noir. 

Later he took a position in Gisborne, managing the vineyards for New Zealand’s second-largest wine company.  Here he learned a great deal, but more importantly he was introduced to the pioneer of organic grape growing in New Zealand.

In 2001, Julian received some interesting news – that apple orchard in Mahana which he knew so well was being turned into a vineyard.  There was no doubt in his mind that now was the time to return to Nelson and take up what he described as, “the ultimate gig.”

At Mahana, Julian helped establish and develop the three vineyards, Mahana, Burke’s Bank and Red Shed. He found that he was given essentially a free hand to explore, experiment and learn.  After 9 years of grape growing he came to realise that the conventional method was not the only way to grow grapes and certainly not the best.  Under his guidance, the company was the first New Zealand vineyard to certify three vineyards at the same time as fully organic under BioGro.

Julian says he didn’t think he was doing anything unusual.  “Over the years of growing under the conventional system we had grown more relaxed and more confident in the vines ability to cope with seasonal influences. The main thing I’ve found with organics is that we have to be so much more proactive about vineyard management and more involved with the land, vineyards and vines. With a conventional system there is always a silver bullet for adverse climatic or disease events. With organics, we have to know what’s here, know what’s coming, and deal with it immediately. You can’t just wait till it arrives and then deal with it.”

Office

Monique Wijnen

Sales & Marketing Manager

Monique Wijnen is the winery’s Sales and Marketing Manager and looks after both the domestic and export markets.

With a last name like ‘Wijnen’ (which means ‘wines’ in Dutch) it was inevitable Monique would end up working at a winery and she has really landed on her feet working with the passionate team at Mahana.

Monique hails from The Netherlands and moved to Nelson New Zealand 10 years ago to pursue a dream of a better lifestyle in this beautiful part of the world. With degrees in International Tourism Management and Marketing Communication and over 15 years of working in marketing and sales, she is passionate about promoting the unique terroir of Mahana and sharing our wines with the rest of the world.