Karl's learnt a lot about canopy management since the '70's.
Pukekohe
An evening enjoying wine with his friend Frank Yukich of Montana Wines convinced Karl's father Steve Nola, to plant a vineyard instead of an orchard at Pukekohe. Karl helped his father and mother grow grapes on the 40-acre family vineyard, remaining a central part of the enterprise.
Karl and his father Steve, pruning in the vineyard in autumn, and Karl and his mother Vini tending the vines in the hot summer sun.
Nola family roots in Croatia
The Greek writer Athenaeus wrote eighteen centuries ago about the high quality of wines produced in the Adriatic. Karl’s Dalmatian heritage with generations of hard-working vintners and horticulturalists instilled in him a passion for winemaking and the foresight to create a vineyard on 23 hectares of rolling grassland in Big Omaha.
Bruno Nola operating the old press during a family trip to Croatia in 2017 and Karl's uncle Pero Dulćić pressing the red wine Plavac Mali on the same press.
2019 saw Nola Vineyard's first commercial harvest. Matakana produced a spectacular harvest which produced terrific wines with deep colours, rich tannins and ripe fruit flavours.
