Will Hoare’s wine career got off to an interesting start after he was kicked out of school for selling homemade wine to his fellow students (we like to think of this as entrepreneurial). This didn’t deter him though, and his career took him from the bottling line at Cloudy Bay, to the vineyards of Au Bon Climat in California (where he learnt from the late, great maverick winemaker Jim Clenenden) and finally back to Marlborough where he spent 19 years as General Manager of Fromm (a trailblazer in single vineyard bottlings and sustainable agriculture) before leaving to found Novum with his wife Rachel.

Novum has a simple philosophy - great fruit makes great wine. They buy small parcels of grapes from established vineyards in special sites to make the very best wine they can. Will’s experience, and a wide network of grower contacts in Marlborough, put him in a unique position to access exceptional fruit. “Growers always know what part of their vineyard produces the best results. They are excited by the prospect of making a small batch of very special wine, which will hopefully become a source of great pride.”