Wine growers have rallied to help a colleague who lost
thousands of thousands of dollars of wine in a burglary at
his Marlborough vineyard.
Gort Vintners owner Gordon Forshaw's warehouse was broken
into over the Easter holiday with paint bombs thrown about,
graffiti scrawled, wine bottles smashed or glued to walls and
thousands of dollars' worth of wine missing, including a
500-litre wine tank and several barrels, The Marlborough
Express reported.
About 1200 bottles of rose, 450 litres of merlot and 450
litres of pinto noir had been stolen, drunk or ruined, Mr
Forshaw said.
The loss was estimated to cost him about $40,000.
Fellow vineyard owners and others in the industry have since
rallied to help Mr Forshaw by donating bottles and barrels of
wine as well as equipment and space.
"The whole industry is going through a hard stage anyway, so
to have one of the region's smallest wineries trashed and
destroyed is horrible," said Clayridge Vineyards owner Mike
Just.
A 17-year-old youth has appeared in court Friday charged with
burglary and possessing cannabis and police inquiries are
continuing.
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