Te Mata’s John Buck awarded Order of Merit

Te Mata chairman John Buck has been awarded the Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his contribution to the country’s wine and arts.

John Buck of Te Mata

Buck, 70, has spent the last 35 years at the helm of his family business, Te Mata Estate Winery in Hawke’s Bay. In addition to building international recognition for his own brand, which now exports to over 36 countries, Buck helped to found and develop what is now Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers from its early base of just seven wineries.

In his role as chairman of the New Zealand Wine Institute during the ‘90s, Buck instigated and oversaw a number of initiatives during a period of important change for the country’s wine industry.

These included representing New Zealand at international trade negotiations, lobbying his own government for regulatory changes and spearheading the development of an export strategy, which set an initial target of NZ$100m exports by the year 2000. Widely believed to be too ambitious, the target was achieved a year ahead of schedule.

Among his numerous contributions to New Zealand’s arts scene, Buck led the $14 million fundraising project for the renovation of the Hawke’s Bay Opera House, where he continues to hold the post of chairman.

In the mid-90s Buck established the Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate programme and in 1991 he set up the Hawke’s Bay Charity Wine Auction, which has now raised more than $2m for Hawke’s Bay Cranford Hospice, strengthening ties between the wine industry and its local community in the process.

His love of New Zealand has also seen Buck given membership of the Matahiwi Marae in the Ngati Kahungunu Iwi; while during his time on the board of the Hawkes Bay Rugby Union in the ’90s, he helped to bolster the organisation’s amateur environment with commercial business models.

This Order of Merit marks the latest of a number of awards presented to Buck in recognition of his work in promoting New Zealand culture. Last year he was inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame and since 1995 he has held an OBE for services to the wine industry.

Commenting on this most recent award, Buck said: “I’ve always believed that New Zealand wine, and the arts, can foot it with the world’s best. All I’ve ever done is put that belief into practice. It’s been a pleasurable challenge.”