Bob and Pat vacationed in New Zealand in November of 2002 and fell in love with the country.  During their two weeks there, they made a decision that to this day is even surprising to them.  It started with a statement by Pat, “Wouldn’t it be great to be in the wine business in New Zealand.”  Try as Bob might to ignore her, it was repeated several more times.  Three months later they purchased a 38 acre new vineyard just about to produce its first vintage.  The Gussins acquired their second New Zealand vineyard in 2007 and now provide almost two hundred tons of grapes a year to Villa Maria Winery.  These wines are sold worldwide. 

     Approximately seventy per cent of the grapes are sauvignon blanc, twenty percent are pinot noir, and the rest are chardonnay and pinot gris.

     The vineyard, which they named Oceanview Aratere and Oceanview Wairua are in the Marlborough region of the south island of New Zealand.  Oceanview Aretare overlooks the Pacific Ocean in the Awatere Valley, near Seddon.  Oceanview Wairua, in the Wairua Valley, is situated on the ‘golden mile’ in Blenheim, the heart of Marlborough wine country.   The vineyards are about twenty miles apart.

     Bob and Pat, as gentlemen farmers, usually visit in November when the vines are beginning to flower and in April to participate in the excitement of the harvest.  For more information see Villa Maria Wines.