Our cheerful, ‘Little Aussie
Battler’ is off to follow her heart.
After several years of soul-searching, Monica
Koch, our Internet and Fine Wine Salesperson is heading off
on a tangent, still in wine, but to make it instead of selling it! Over the last five years Monn has looked
after Regional’s electronic sales and kept tabs on the rare and fine wine
allocations. But we knew she was
restless….
Around March every year, she’d take
time off to work at a winery for vintage.
In 2006, it was with Simon Waghorn
at Astrolabe. In 2008 it was with Rudi Bauer at Quartz Reef in Central
Otago. Last year it was
with Clive, Phyll and Helen at Ata Rangi in Martinborough. She always came back exhausted, but with a
big smile on her face – pretty much as she does after a tasting of Armand
Rousseau burgundies or Loosen Mosel Rieslings in our upstairs tasting room. It was obvious that she had the winemaking
bug…
Monn leaves us at the end of this
week to head down to Bendigo
again and join Rudi’s crew at Quartz Reef for the 2010 harvest. Then later in the year to Weingut Joseph
Hirsch in the Kamptal region in Austria
(not Australia)
to make Gruner Veltliner wine. The
Hirsch family are friends with Rudi Bauer
at Quartz Reef and Daniel Schwarzenbach of Blackenbrook, so Monn is going to
have a ball. Then the intention is to
head back for the 2011 vintage at Ata Rangi, followed by a stint in Germany or Burgundy….you get the picture. Two vintages a year is for those who can’t
get enough!
It seems oenology is in the blood,
and Monn aims to study for formal winemaking qualifications, either at EIT in
Hawke’s Bay or Lincoln in Canterbury. She’s following similar footsteps of another
former Regional Wines employee, also inspired by the wines around him – Clive Dougall, who is the winemaker at Seresin
Estate. Clive maintains contact and
keeps on buying good wines from us. We
think Monn will do the same. Keep in
touch Monn. We’ll watch your progress
with interest!