It began in 2004 when Antonio and his wife Stefania made the decision to take a section of merino farm in the remote Hakataramea Valley and plant it into a vineyard.
This was the first of many difficult steps towards a particular goal: "Dry farmland can be seen and transformed," Antonio explains, "It is challenging, but it is creating new tastes of wine in New Zealand."
Initially, the classic aromatic grape varieties were planted: Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Cabernet Sauvignon and others. However, after that first year, it would turn out that nearly all of these vines would have to be ripped out to make room for different, and hopefully more successful, experiments.
Over the early years, Pasquale would experiment with an enormous range of different varieties, probing the land to discover which vines would react best to this unique terroir. As a result, the Pasquale Kurow Winery now produces an extensive range of wines, spanning some nine different successful grape varieties, and even more promising varieties, such as the Malvasia Bianca, getting closer to producing fruit for their first vintage.
By 2006 it was time to expand and plant a new vineyard, this time a little closer to civilisation: near the town of Kurow in the neighbouring Waitaki Valley. And with the Waitaki Vineyard came the region's first winery in 2007, the Pasquale Kurow Winery.
