Daniel Schuster, Daniel Schuster Wines Ltd.
Born and raised in Prague, Danny trained in Europe as a winemaker/viticulturist and has some 25 years of international winemaking experience. He has worked in many of the world's fine winemaking regions including Burgundy and Bordeaux in France, the Yarra Valley in Australia, Stellenbosch in South Africa, the Napa Valley in America and in Tuscany, Italy.
He was closely involved with the development and early research into grape and wine production conducted at Lincoln University and became Canterbury's first commercial at St Helena Wine Estate. His pioneering work with Pinot Noir resulted in the first gold medal for this variety in New Zealand and the many prestigious awards his wines received during the early to mid-1980's helped establish Canterbury's reputation as a foremost producer of this grape variety.
In the words of highly acclaimed New Zealand wine writer, Michael Cooper, Danny "has been a guru of the Canterbury wine scene ever since he made the gold medal winning St Helena Pinot Noirs from 1982 and 1984, which electrified the local wine community."
Danny is also the author of several books on wine and grape growing. In addition to managing the Omihi Hills Vineyard and winery operations, he runs an international consultancy with prestigious names such as Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in California and the Antinori family estates in Tuscany amongst his clients.
Danny's international experience has taught him that fine wine relies on more than just varietal fruit characters and the flavour of oak. His personal belief is that it is 'terroir' (the interplay between the topography, soil and climate of a vineyard) combined with the natural flavours of the grape that gives a wine its unique character. In his opinion the winemaker's responsibility is to ensure the terroir reaches its ultimate expression of the wine.
His innovative spirit balanced by a respect for tradition, gained during his time working with some of the great wine producers of the Northern Hemisphere, has been instrumental in the development of wines that are as much about subtlety of flavour and expression of 'terrior' as they are about the character of the grape variety. Danny married his wife, Mari, in 1989. Mari oversees the administration and export marketing of Daniel Schuster Wines Ltd.
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