Please note this article was published last October. All I have done is correct the spelling of the surname of the late Doug Wisor, after whom Craggy Range have named the charming Marlborough Pinot Noir 2003 which he made.
Last weekend saw two substantial human losses to the wine business in Australia and New Zealand. Jim Barry of Jim Barry Wines in South Australia's Clare Valley passed away aged 79. His sons had recently been in London showing some spectacular fruits of his long, wine-producing life. See Coonawarra and other Oz classics and also Great Australian Rieslings back to 1973. And in New Zealand a winemaker at Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay, Doug Wisor, was the victim of the country's first fatal kite-surfing accident. Craggy Range Wines managing director Steve Smith MW said that the young American was a talented winemaker who came to New Zealand about four years ago. He loved all adventure sports, an important feature of NZ life, although kite surfing is apparently a relatively recent activity there. "The world is a poorer place without him. He was an unbelievable young man," said Steve Smith.