Valley Girls

Words: Richard Morgan

In the past, most people’s idea of rural New Zealand was gentlemen farmers and burley shearers in black singlets and gumboots, with the farmer’s wife living quietly behind the scenes. Today’s reality couldn’t be further from this, as rural women are no longer content to sit quietly in the background. Today the women of rural New Zealand are now more often than not at the forefront of rural life.

The Waipara Valley region is among one of New Zealand’s fastest growing food and wine regions, with award winning wineries, restaurants and growing numbers of rural entrepreneurs – many of them women. Angela Clifford, Michele Cherry, Gail Morgan, Margot Korhonen and Kate McMillan are five such individuals; these Valley Girls are making names for themselves as business savvy Entrepreneurs and community leaders.

Angela Clifford is the personification of the Waipara region’s ethos; her family brought the first sheep into the district about 160 years ago. While studying in Australia she met her husband Nick Gill and they worked in the Australian wine industry for the next 12 years, establishing the Barossa Farmers Market along the way. They returned to Canterbury and the Valley seven years ago when Nick was given the chance to set up the Greystone Vineyard, and they now have three children.

Angela helped out in the early days of the Waipara Valley Farmers Market and was also Vice-Chair of the NZ Farmers Market Association for a while. She also worked for Greystone Wines for five years getting involved in wine and food events such as ‘In Praise of Riesling’ and the ‘Taste New Zealand Farmers Market Awards’.
Angela couldn’t believe how under-done the region was with regards to a wine and food profile.
“It was as if someone had provided the ingredients and we’d forgotten to bake the cake. The region has all the best bits of some of the best wine regions in the world, the potential is just staggering.”
More recently Angela has worked with others in the community to establish Waipara Valley NZ (www.waiparavalleynz.com), a collaborative group that promotes the Valley, her wines and food. The group has 25 members including 21 local wineries. They’ve adopted the tag-line ‘The most exciting wine and food region in New Zealand’ and she believes this to be true – not the biggest or the best known, but without a doubt the most exciting.
Angela is passionate about the Valley and will happily promote it given half a chance.
“You can grow just about anything here, and I’m a big believer and supporter of local food and local food producers. So many unsung heroes, people who believe in this place where they live. So many of us, our businesses or personally, have been affected by events of the last 12 months but it just seems to have strengthened the sense of community and the importance of being together. It’s all right there in front of us, we just need to grab it. Sometimes we’re not so good at stepping up, reaching out and grabbing things. Sometimes you have to go away to realise the value of where you are from. This is a really special place. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to call it home.”