What inspired you to become a winemaker?

I began to get interested in the world of wine in my late twenties, while backpacking through North and South America. I visited a lot of wine areas in Chile, Argentina, California and Canada and started to think about how nice it would be to live in these beautiful places and to be able to make something that people valued and enjoyed.

What is your winemaking philosophy?

I believe that wine should encapsulate a place and a time. As a product it doesn’t play by the same rules as mass-produced consumer goods; it’s always different from year to year and place to place, and I think the winemaker should be trying to show those differences and not make a conformist, homogeneous product that could be from anywhere in the world. I am hoping to make the best possible wine that shows the differences we can achieve from our vineyards versus others.

What is the most challenging aspect of your role as winemaker?

I think the most challenging part of my role is having to wear many different hats daily. In a relatively small company, the role requires knowing and managing intimately the whole process from growing the grapes through harvesting to fermenting and finishing the wines, then getting them safely and carefully into bottles. Not to mention the marketing, sales, logistics and financial side of the business!

What is your favourite wine to make? And to drink?

Pinot Noir would be my favourite without a doubt. I love drinking and enjoying really good Pinots. Of all the grapes we have, they are by far the most fickle to grow; the trickiest to handle in the winery and the most challenging to get right in the bottle at the end of it all.

If you weren’t a winemaker, what would you be doing?

Pro surfer or possibly lead goal scorer for New Zealand in the soccer world cup. Though I admit that I may have left my run a bit late...

The best thing about making wines for Tohu is...

We have some truly great vineyard sites that are only now starting to show their potential. Working for a Kiwi-owned company that genuinely cares for its people and its land is, I think, a bit of a rarity these days and is something I am grateful for every day.

Anna McCarty - Winemaker

I love what each new harvest season brings, especially how the flavours and aromatics continuously develop and evolve from fruit into wine. When bringing all the elements together at blending, my challenge is to make the sum greater than the individual parts especially when subtle changes can make a huge difference. For me, satisfaction comes from sharing and enjoying something I’ve played a part in making with whānau and friends.