Fire devastates New Zealand winery

A fire has ripped through a New Zealand winery destroying its offices, kitchen and parts of its century-old wine cellar.

About 18 fire trucks and 70 firefighters were called to the Vilagrad Winery in Waikato on the country’s north island in the early hours of this morning after a fire broke out at the 100-year-old winery, owned by winemaker Jacob Nooyen and his family.

Half of the winery, a 100-year-old cask room, its kitchen and officers were destroyed by the fire, according to local reports, along with medals awarded to the winery for their wine and family photos. While many of the winery’s bottled wines were lost, Nooyen thinks wines stored in its stainless steel vats could be salvaged.

Posting a message on its Facebook page, the winery said: “The Nooyen family regret to inform you that an extensive fire has occurred at Vilagrad Winery in the early hours of this morning. Fortunately no one was hurt or injured. The fire has devastated our offices, kitchen, and parts of our wine cellar, this means we are currently unable to operate at this time.”

It added: “Please be patient with us, we will endeavour to keep you all updated as we know more. We would like to thank the many firefighters and volunteers for everything they have done. As you can imagine the Nooyen family are completely devastated and we appreciate all your support and compassion at this time.”

The winery was founded by Dalmatian emigre Ivan Milicich Sr in 1893, who began to grow grapes there in 1906. It is now run by the family’s fifth generation, who have added to the site over the years.

Despite the devastation the winery is already positive about the future and has vowed to rebuild.

Thanking its supporters via its Facebook page, the winery said: “We are so overwhelmed with all the support we have received. We want to thank you all for your kind words, we read every single one of your messages and they truly mean a lot. A BIG thanks to all the firefighters, you are all amazing!!! Unfortunately we will have to cancel our two Midyear Xmas parties. But we will rebuild and we will be back!!!!! Let the clean up begin.”

The cause of the fire is now under investigation.

The winery before Monday’s fire