The New Zealand Fine Wine Story Loses a True Pioneer
Mike Weersing simply changed the course of New Zealand fine wine. Sadly, he passed away on November 12th after a long battle with personal illness. Great people always leave a great legacy, and Mike’s legacy was considerable and enduring.
Mike was one of the great lovers of everything Burgundy, embracing the region, its wines and vineyards, and getting his hands dirty over vintage on many, many occasions. After a world-wide search with Claudia, to find a place outside Burgundy where he could make wine that celebrated his love of Burgundy, he chose an isolated, high elevation, east facing, virgin, limestone/clay slope in Pyramid Valley, North Canterbury. Everyone thought he was crazy, and in fact he was a bit crazy, in the very right way. Mike and Claudia, with their own blood, sweat and tears, set about planting four parcels of individual vineyard on their property, and these would lead to the creation of four of the most spell binding wines ever made in the New World, a pair of great chardonnay, Lion’s Tooth and Field of Fire, and two exceptional pinot noir, Earth Smoke and Angel Flower. In doing so they created the Pyramid Valley Vineyards brand and set about curating a collection of wines that would challenge the norm and expectations of fine wine from this fledgling island nation. While deeply private, he became one of the great wine communicators with his special mix of eccentricity, warmth and intelligence, spreading the story of Pyramid Valley to all corners of the fine wine world. That’s really something from 2.2ha. of vineyard in North Canterbury! His commitment to natural production methods and biodynamic viticulture made him a global leader in this space and ignited an interest in these philosophies amongst many colleagues within New Zealand. He was, and still is in the hearts and minds of those who knew him, a very special human being.
While Mike Weersing chose a private cremation in Christchurch (there are no surprises here such was his sense of privacy and humility), there is a desire to at least celebrate his life in wine with a little more pizazz. After speaking to Claudia and Mike’s mother in California it has been decided to have “Memorial to Mike” overlooking his favourite Lion’s Tooth Vineyard at the Pyramid Valley property in Waikari, North Canterbury on Saturday February 27th, 2021. Quite appropriately that day is the full moon before harvest. This will be open to all in the wine community, in person or virtually. More information will be provided through the “A Celebration of Mike Weersing’s Life in Wine” Facebook event page in the coming months but please lock the date in the diary.
For any enquiries
Steve Smith MW +64 21703241