Winemaker Michael Glover

A couple of weeks ago I met Nelson winemaker Michael Glover in real life, after a few years of intensive correspondence about berets (among other things). 

Michael's career in wine started at age 15, with the planting of the first grapes of the family vinyard in the Moutere Hills of Nelson. 
Since then, Michael has experienced wine-making across Europe and Australia; the last 10 years as Australian icon Bannockburn's winemaker. 

Since early this year, Michael is back in Upper Moutere, winemaker at Mahana Vineyards, as well as making his own Mammoth pinot noirs. 

Michael is dedicated to organics and brings winemaking back to basics; experimenting with whole bunch winemaking and not adding enzymes, yeasts, colour, or tannin additives. Neither does he use fining agents like isinglass (fish guts), egg whites, skim milk or PVPP - all he adds is a friendly amount of sulfur, just as the monks of Burgundy, and the Romans before them, did.

A true boinero in every sense of the word, Michael doesn't go far without a beret; be it an Auloronesa, Super Lujo or one of the many models, colours and sizes from his collection. Discussing politics, he says "I do know that wearing a beret somehow helps. I regard it as a kind of reality shield" and it's a metaphor I not only really like, but recognize very much too: my own personal protection against the world. 

On the wall in the vineyards lab: Ché wearing a Mahanoir, next to an aerial photo of Upper Moutere.