A Berry Good Tipple

Anthony Barker’s Winemaking Adventures

Anthony Barker subscribed to the UK publication ‘The Amateur Winemaker’ where elderberries were proclaimed to produce one of the best non-grape red wines.

The rich-coloured elderberry was used as long ago as medieval times when ‘black mead’, a potent concoction made from elderberries and honey, was enjoyed by kings and commoners alike. It was a compelling economic argument that the humble elderberry, growing profusely in the Te-Moana Riverbed bordering Anthony’s farm could be harvested for free!

As volumes outgrew the family’s harvesting efforts, pickers were paid 10 cents a pound. In 1969 Barker’s Wines was born and 1,200 gallons of dry red elderberry wine was made.

The cowshed and piggery were transformed into the winery. An old washing machine was converted for drying corks, a vacuum cleaner was adapted in conjunction with a diesel burner for the quick heating of the coppers to boil fruit and a reel-cut mower was modified to pump wine into vats.

Within four years 30,000 bottles were sold annually and the cellar door attracted around 20,000 visitors each year. With severe hay fever and being less inclined to face the rigours of daily crop farming, Anthony leased out his farm, allowing him to focus all his energy on wine making.