New Zealand Wine Post 1990 - 1999

         Stamps and many of the items found on these pages can be purchased from:-

New Zealand Wine Post (Stampmetro.) 

         This is the first part of our New Zealand Wine Post collection, taking us through the first 10 years. This collection is mostly complete and open for viewing but we will continue adding new items and further sections as the need arises.

         The Wine Post, also known as New Zealand Wine Post, is a privately owned postal service in New Zealand. It is operated by Westons Winery New Zealand, which is the World's Most Southern Winery and acts as its only post office. Wine Post began issuing its own postage stamps in 1990 as one of the many independent posts of New Zealand, operating in a deregulated postal environment. The Wine Post stamps are used for the domestic and international postage requirements of their own winery.
         The Wine Post is what is called a local post, and is completely independent of the State mail carrier. It has its own stamps, postmarks and system of delivery within New Zealand and abroad. The cost of the postage is somewhat higher than 80 cents for a letter offered by NZ Post the state carrier.

                 Collection Overview.

           Page One - New Zealand Wine Post   1990 - 1999.

           Page Two - New Zealand Wine Post   2000 - 2009.

            Page Three - New Zealand Wine Post  2010 - 2019.

                Page Four - New Zealand Wine Post 2020 - 2029. 

           Special Page - New Zealand Wine Post - Official Stamps.

           Special Page - New Zealand Wine Post - Wine Labels.

Earlier Forerunner Stamps.

         The early stamps of the1980s of the Wine Post were issued at the Berwick St Winery and are known as Forerunner Issues. While being an important part of the historical foundation of the Winery and the Wine Post stamps, they were not called the 'Wine Post' until 1990.
         Among the Forerunner Stamps are - The 1982 12 cents red Purakanui Royal Yacht Club roulette perforated self-adhesive. The 1985 sepia 1 Bottle Halley's Comet Arabic gummed postage stamp. 1985-1989 Weston's Postage & Revenue bottle values imperforate and Arabic gummed black issues of various wine label designs. 1989 Postage Paid 1 Dollar black imperforate winebird stamp 1990. The postally used trial Orange Winebird 1 dollar perforated and gummed issue 1990.

                   

1982 - Regatta Day.                                                     1985 - Halley's Comet.

1982 - 12c - Regatta Day.

 In 1982 the Purakanui Regatta was revived since Weston's Winery had interests in the area and the club, the winery produced this very early forerunner of what would lead to the establishment of The Wine Post of 1990. It was printed on a peel-off paper by a colour line dry printing method. So, it may be the first adhesive of this type. You can see the stamp here is very lightly roulette perforated but this example has been hand-cut from the sheet. 

The stamp commemorates the first winner in the modern era of the Purakanui Regatta held on February 6, 1982. (New Zealand Day holiday). It was used on invitation mail that was hand-delivered by the winery post to guests of a special award dinner for the winner a week or so after the regatta. The name of the yacht on the stamp is Pea Pod with the design showing the yacht just after it crossed the finish line.

1985 - 1 bottle - Halley's Comet.

Forerunner Issue of the Wine Post. This stamp was issued from Weston Winery for its post as it began to carry its own mail and collect returning mail. Printed in 1985 when Halley's Comet appeared again. The scene is a local landmark hill called Saddle Hill. The stamp has a sepia tone to it and the perforations are as clean as I have seen. Gummed and a superb item for its era.

1985 - Charles and Diana.
Forerunner issue from the old winery when a post was set up to deliver the wines. This is from a proof sheet that was never perforated.

                 

          1985 Sally Ride.                                                 Weston's Winery wine label - Sally Ride 1986.

Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American physicist and astronaut. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Sally Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have travelled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987.

I am not sure on the date of this issue as NZ WinePost didn't provide it with the example above. Sally Ride flew on the Space Shuttle in 1983 and the wine label below was produced in 1986 so we believe this stamp/label must have been issued close to that time.

Wineage.

The early WinePost issues carried values of bottles and glasses This was known as wineage values. These values equated to the real value bottles or glasses of wine. This had a history going back to the early 1980s when stamps were issued from the old winery. You will notice above that the 1982 - Regatta Day was valued as 12c while other forerunner issues used the wineage values. This method of value continued until 1999 when there was a change to New Zealand standard currency. 

      1990 Wine Post Issues - Orange Winebird.
                       (Paper and Gum Trial)

         Date of Issue - 20th Sept 1990.

          

Copies of the original artwork used for the winebird issues. This is an amazing design, one that caught my attention and got me interested in WinePost stamps.

On the left, the design showing the winebird and frame can be seen. On the right, the wording has been added. This design was then copied and reduced to stamp size. 24 of these images were put together to form the 'black image' that was photographed on to the lithographic printing plate.

Imperforate and gummed. This trial was printed on paper that tended to curl when gum was applied to the reverse side. In this example, some of the gum has soaked into the paper in the top right. A second gumming was trialled on top of the first gumming which also wasn't successful so this type of paper was eventually rejected.

WP#0. 

      1990 Wine Post Issues - Orange Winebird.
                       (Postal Trial Definitive)

         Date of Issue - 10th Oct 1990.

 The 'winebird' design shows a figure flying a chariot of silver ferns.

                   

      

        

Three examples of the 1990 Oct issue. The stamps were poorly printed with a blocked/filled in appearance. They were commonly off centre too. This earlier issue is often known as a forerunner stamp because it was produced as a postally used trial before the opening of the Wine Post service on Dec 8th, 1990. The stamps on the left are very rare used examples of this early issue, probably the first known examples of a Winepost cancellation.

This is an amazing find - a New Zealand Wine Post 1990 Orange WineBird dated cover in perfect condition. A unique cover showing the Orange WineBird posting through the State mail carrier (NZ Post), accidentally postmarked and Dated 16 Oct 1990. It has also been cancelled by the Wine Post date stamp as well which was supposed to be the only postmark. This was a postal trial conducted under licence.  Despite this, the stamp was defaced by the postal department but strangely delivered anyway. This is what makes it unique and totally rare, the fact that the cover carries both cancels. Geoff Weston of NZ Wine Post states "I have only ever seen one other used on a different day. Orange Winebird of this printing are rare enough, but on a cover is totally rare."

1990 Opening of the Weston Post Office.

While not an official First Day of Issue because there was not actually a stamp being issued, this cover marks an important event in the postal history of the Wine Post. The 1st November 1990 was the first day of operation of their own Post Office. While just how big this was can be debated, Weston Winery thought it was important enough to produce this cover. The stamp used is the $1.00 Orange Winebird, the only stamp they had at that time.

WP#1. 

       1990 Wine Post Issues - Burgundy Winebird.

                       (Postal Definitive)

          Date of Issue - 8th Dec 1990.

 The first official issue of Wine Post, this December issue retained the same artwork but a completely new litho printing plate was produced. Those earlier trials had resulted in stamps showing much more detail in their design and more centred stamps.


1990 New Zealand Wine Post WineBird block with misplaced perforations.
Notice this is a different shift to the one suffered by the Trial WineBird.

1990  Dec - $1.00 Winebird.

Imperforated, possibly a printing proof. Here we have enlarged this item so the design can be seen in a lot more detail.

When you stop to take a closer look, you have to agree that it's quite a clever design. The three silver fern leaves are arranged to create the effect of a bird in flight (Wine Bird). There is a rider dressed in what appears to be Greek or Roman style of dress who uses reins to guide the bird. Finishing this off is a decoratively designed border making this into a rather striking stamp. Notice, the unlike most of the early WinePost issues, the value of this stamp was 1 dollar.

The First Day Cover for the first Wine Post Issue. This is the pale blue cover that was only used at the winery post office on the first day of issue. It is a pity that this one hasn't been addressed, proving it had been used but it seems that fine used examples of Wine Post stamps are very hard to come by.

NZ Wine Post original issue, $1.00 Winebird numbered Miniature sheet.

WP#2. 

       1991  Dodge Delivery - Definitive.

          Date of Issue - 26th May 1991.

                                     

 

1991 2G (Two Glasses) - Dodge Delivery Truck.

The colour of this stamp is the authentic Dodge Blue as used on the Dodge Trucks. The stamps on the right-hand side are closer to the correct colour. Following the idea of this being a winery, the stamp value was 2G (2 glasses of wine) instead of 2 dollars. The pair on the left makes up a sheet corner plate block showing both sheet and plate numbers. For security reasons all printed sheets were numbered.  

           The First Day, driver signed covers, are very collectable and worth a premium of other FDC. They were carried by the actual Dodge Truck shown on the stamps, from the Winery Post Office to Purakanui on the day. We hope to show you one of these covers if we can find one.

A miniature sheet of five stamps showing the Dodge Delivery Stamp. Notice the sheet number '001' proving this to be the very first sheet printed which explains why it is lighter in colouring. I think some of the information in the selvedge is as interesting as the stamps themselves.

$2.00 Dodge numbered miniature sheet with double perforation flaw.

WP#3. 

      1991  Guernsey Lady - Definitive.

         Date of Issue - 30th May 1991.

       

1991 5G (5 Glasses)  The Guernsey Lady.

The Guernsey Lady is the third issue of New Zealand Wine Post. Where the 2G Dodge Delivery Truck stamp had been for domestic use, this 5G stamp was for international use. In 1993 it was overprinted for two special 'Official' uses so care needs to be taken identifying the general use stamp shown here from the two overprints shown further down this page. 

The exact ink line lithograph artwork was also used on the wine label of the same name.

(See below - 1992 Summer Wines & Flowers).

The 1976 Guernsey Lady Wine Label.

Notice it is the same picture that appeared years later in this stamp but appears to have reproduced better on the wine label. 

So, who is this Guernsey Lady and what does she have to do with a New Zealand wine company?

Guernsey Lady was the name of the very first wine produced prior to 1980 by Weston Winery. The stamp commemorates this connection with the history of the Winery and the Weston Family. Guernsey Lady is in fact, Jane Louise Valpy from the Channel Islands. She is an important ancestor of the Weston Family. She is the Great Grandmother of the Valpy line. Philip Bree Valpy was her son who immigrated to New Zealand in 1908. 

A numbered Miniature Sheet showing a block of

eight stamps 5G Guernsey Lady.

 This does not appear to be a First Day Cover, notice the date, 29th June 1991. 

This special cover shows all three first Wine Post issues and a nice crisp Wine Post cancel.

WP#4. 

      1992 Wine Post Issue - Air Show.

         Date of Issue - 15th Feb 1992.

2G (2 Glasses) - Replica Sopwith Camel Bi-Plane.

Notice the WineBird from the 1990 issues, flying through the clouds in the top left corner.

The New Zealand Wine Post's fourth issue appeared in 1992 and was first issued at the Dunedin Airshow. The covers and sheets were delivered via motorbike to the local Taieri Aerodrome where they were transferred to the replica Sopwith Camel Bi-Plane depicted on the stamp and then flown to the  Dunedin Festival Airshow being held at Momona Airport. The event signalled the opening of the Airshow. A very limited number of signed covers were issued, signed by the owner/pilot Tom Grant- who also built the Sopwith Camel bi-plane.

2G (2 Glasses) - Replica Bi-Plane with corner selvedge.

There were three lots of the mini-sheet printed (1A:1B:1C). The sheets were a block of four within a frame. The stamp above is from the bottom right corner and the sheet number C77 tells us this is from sheet number 77 of the third lot printed. Two complete sheets can be seen below.

Two four stamp numbered miniature sheets used for this issue.

This sheet, numbered C38, is the 38th sheet of the 3rd printing.

Here is the first miniature sheet printed, even before they got the colour correct.

First Day Covers - Signed.

Two examples of the covers were signed by Tom Grant, the pilot/owner of the replica bi-plane.

Notice in the cover below, he signed below the aircraft in a more visible location.

I believe the colour difference is more due to image quality rather than the original covers.

Artwork used to create the printing plate.

WP#5a; WP#5b; WP#5c; WP#5d.

         1992 Wine Post Issue - Summer Wines & Flowers.

                      (Postal Definitives) 

             Date of Issue - 10th Dec 1992.

   

 Se-Tenant Strips of 4 Stamps.

Wines & Flowers set was the first multi-colour issue by New Zealand Wine Post. Here I have arranged them as they appeared on the sheet.

The four wines shown here were important wines from Westons Winery in 1992, their history and lineage going right back to 1980. They have each been matched with summer flower to create this interesting issue of wine and flowers. An object from the night sky was also added to each stamp. 

The miniature sheet showing all four stamps.

                       

2G (2 Glasses) - Guernsey Lady.                                       5G (5 Glasses) - Sally Ride.

Summer Flowers - Miniature Roses.                                     Summer Flowers - Daffodils

The Southern Cross & Pointers.                                                  The Cresent Moon.    

                 

                      

       3G (3 Glasses) - Ships Wine.                                         4G (4 Glasses) - Pharaohs Wine.     

Summer Flowers - Forget Me Not.                                Summer Flowers  - Daisies.     

The Planet Saturn.                                                         The Planet Venus.     

A hand-drawn colour trial done with water-colour pens. You will notice that this drawing is very close to the trial printing below but the blue is lighter than the final stamp. With objects from the night sky shown on each stamp, it was thought that the darker blue would create more of a night effect.

We love showing items like this on our blog as they give insight into the design and development of the stamps rather than just showing the stamps themselves.

 An imperf proof showing artwork for all four stamps.

While being very similar to the final design, this version was rejected because the names of the flowers appeared above the name "Westons Wines." These early printing trials were done on a very chalky gummed paper that proved unsuitable for the final stamps.

1999 New Zealand Wine Post RUSH envelope to a flower shop. Last day before Xmas.

The stamps used are the 3G (3 Glasses) - Ships Wine & 4G (4 Glasses) - Pharaohs Wine.

It's good to see these stamps on a cover being used for the purpose they were issued.

WP#3a; WP#3b.

      1993 5G (5 Glasses)  The Guernsey Lady - Overprint Officials.

        Date of Issue - 5th Jan 1993.

Sheets of the Guernsey Lady were overprinted for official use. A blue overprint was used for the H.M. Customs overprint, and a red overprint for the To Parliament Overprint. The overprints were issued in a sheet of eight with the top row of four was overprinted "To H.M. Customs" and the bottom row of four was overprinted "To Parliament."

To HM Customs.    To Parliament.

Both of these overprints proved very hard to read, particularly the red "To Parliament." You will need to take care not to confuse these overprints with the original Guernsey Lady issue of 1991.

Why were these overprints required?

During the early 90s, very important legal documents were sent to members of Parliament determining the future of the winery. The questions in those documents were asked in the House and the Official answers posted to the winery with Parliament Official Mail. To secure the safety of the documents posted from the winery it was deemed necessary to overprint current stamps for use on hand-delivered priority letters that being addressed to Parliament were processed quicker. 

In a similar way, legal letters to New Zealand Customs concerning shipping and exporting of wine and payment of tax on wine produced also carried their own official overprint stamps and were given priority. Letters addressed to these locations still carry their own special stamps with other "Official" designs being produced regularly.

See our special page on these issues.

New Zealand Wine Post - Official Stamps.

WP#6.  

      1994  California - Special Air Export Definitive.

        Date of Issue - 7th Dec 1994.

2B (2 Bottles) - California.

This stamp was designed at short notice for parcels of wine going to California. Hence the high bottle value. They were printed in sheets of one initially. These are numbered and designated California and are spectacular items. That Boeing 747 flying through the circle of text really makes this design stand out. They were designed and printed in a short space-time, and so they were one of two WinePost stamps issued without a First Day Cover and were only used for a short period before they could be superseded by the new three-state issue the following year.

A numbered single stamp sheet #43.

WP#7a; WP#7b; WP#7c.

       1995  Special Air Export - Definitives.

          Date of Issue - 25th Jan 1995.

    

 

2B (2 Bottles) - North Dakota in red.

2B (2 Bottles) - Arizona in Blue.

2B (2 Bottles) - California in Green.

These were designed to quickly replace the California issue of a few months previous. They were initially printed in se-tenant sheets of three all with the same Two Bottle value. Arizona was first in the row in blue, then North Dakota in red and California last in green. They were later also printed in sheets with all values in multiples in the same se-tenant row.

One of the small sheets showing one of each stamp.

WP#8a through WP#8i.

       1995  The World's Most Southern Winery - Definitives.

          Date of Issue - 1st Mar 1995.

The complete set of nine stamps of the 1995 New Zealand Wine Post World's Most Southern Winery (Guinness Record) Se-tenant mini-sheet. The high 10G value centre stamp depicts the Weston Winery Buildings. The other stamps from the famous wine painting 'A Good Vintage' by the Italian Francesca vinea. This was developed into an ink lithograph for the stamp's design then transferred to a lithographic printing plate for printing.

The 9 stamps shown in a part sheet.

Top Row:- 1G (1 glass) Plum; 2G (2 glasses) Yellow; 1G (1 glass) Blue.

Middle Row:- 3G (3 glasses) Green; 10G (10 glasses) Winery; 5G (5 glasses) Orange.

Bottom Row:- 1G ( 1 glass) Violet; 6G (6 glasses) Black; 1G (1 glass) Brown.

This issue first appeared as the block of nine different stamps above. When Geoff Weston got the idea of producing a special sheet of stamp he drew a concept sketch of what it might look like. You can see one of his early drawings below.

There were two types of working sheets printed shortly after the mini-sheet was issued. Sheets WS-1 contained 18 stamps:- 5G orange, 3G green, 2G yellow,1G blue, 1G purple, 1G brown in columns of three. There are many joined pair combinations that can be taken from these sheets but they are quite scarce. 

Sheets WS-2 contained 18 stamps:- 6 of the Winery stamp, 6 of the black 6G stamp and 6 of the plumb 1G stamp. Thus it is only possible to get blocks of four or six of the same stamp from these sheets. But there are many possible Se-tenant joined pair combinations of the various values but they are quite scarce too.

1995 10G Production Steps.

This is a special exhibition card from 2011 that shows a study of the highest value of the 1995 Definitives. On the left are four hand-drawn concept sketches of the design. 

Along the bottom are three drawings of the centre picture. These show that the idea here was clearly to feature the winery. Notice that first drawing of the wine-maker taking a sample from some wine barrels became a stamp in 2016. The drawing in the centre shows the winery while the drawing bottom right shows the barrels now in the winery. 

 Top right is three essays as the design is finally put together. The first shows the outside border of the stamp. The second adds in the picture of the winery while in the last drawing, colour has been added making the final design. 

It has been very hard to find good images of this definitive issue. So far the items below are all that we have. Of course, you would have seen the complete set in the half sheet above.  

 

1G (1 glass) Brown.                           6G (6 glasses) Black.

  

     5G (5 glasses) Orange.                       1G ( 1 glass) Violet.                       10G (10 glasses) Winery.

                     

          1 G (1 glass) Plum. Corner block of 4.                                              10 G (10 glasses) Weston's Winery.

Colour Varieties.

1980s New Zealand Winepost 6G Black, dark and light printings pair.

Printing & Perforation Trial.

1995. Worlds Most Southern Winery issue. Trial printing and perforation to test thin gummed paper. The entire mini sheet would have been printed like this, perforated on top and bottom only and the left margin. Since only very few copies would have been made, this item must be considered as being very rare. This paper type was rejected due to its lack of strength and poor surface quality.

Perforation Errors.

An error can be found where there is an extra perforation running across each stamp close to the lower edge of the design. I have included all of these as they include some values not found above.

  

      1G (1 glass) Blue.                                     1G (1 glass) Brown.                                     3G (3 glasses) Green.

          

5G (5 glasses) Orange.                               1G ( 1 glass) Violet.                               2G (2 glasses) Yellow. 

WP#9;  WP#9ovp.  

       1995  The Rhododendron Festival - Commemorative.  

          Date of Issue - 14th Oct 1995.

I am unsure if this smudging in the selvage a mistake or meant to be there so the printer can measure colour strength.

2G (2 Glasses) Rhododendron Festival. 

A strip of three 1995

         

Some stamps were overprinted for sale in locations other than the winery.

On the left is a normal example, on the right an overprinted example.

WP#10.  

      1995  America's Cup - Commemorative.

        Date of Issue - 28th Oct 1995.

        This stamp was issued to celebrate New Zealand's America's Cup win in 1995. The stamp shows the crest of the Purakanui Yacht Club, where a victory dinner was held, and the New Zealand boat underneath. Commemorative mail posted from the dinner or the winery carried this commemorative stamp.

      5G (5 Glasses) America's Cup.

Type 1 - Imperforated Printed on Stationary.

 This stamp appeared in three different formats known as types. Type 1 is the imperforated format shown on the cover above as an image printed on stationery, in this case, a First Day Cover. Type 2, found below left, is an imperforated stamp with what appears to be a perforation as a border around the main design. Type 3, seen below right, is a perforated stamp on gummed paper.

                              

                   Type 2 - Imperforated.                                  Type 3 - Perforated on Gummed Paper.

Three design errors caused during the proofing process.

This pair was Type 2 with the false perforations. These were single stamps intended to be overprinted as "Specimen." For some unknown reason, they missed this final step.

 

Above left - During the setting up of perforations, this proof was taken with the perf running through the stamp design.

Above right - During the process of finding the correct colour, this lighter example was printed. 

1995 New Zealand Wine Post - America´s Cup proof design not used.

     1995 Two Stamp Designs Produced - Never Used.

      

Left-hand - The stamp was never printed. It would have been a commemorative stamp for the Catalina Flying boat visit to Momona Airport on April 9, 1995. Every time I look at this essay I see the image of a face.

Right-hand - New Zealand Wine Post Special souvenir printing of the Larnach Castle (A local castle and the only castle in New Zealand) for a stamp design never used.

WP#11.  

       1995  Christmas Stamp - Commemorative.

          Date of Issue - 7th Nov 1995.

3G (3 Glasses) Santa's Christmas Party. 

The first Christmas stamp issued by NZ Wine Post shows Father Christmas (Santa) sitting on a wine barrel enjoying some of its contents. Winemakers beware! Lock up your cellars Christmas Eve. 
(We are looking for a better image of this stamp.)

WP#12.  

      1996  Wine Tasting - Definitive.

         Date of Issue - 5th May 1996.

3G (3 Glasses) Wine Tasting.

Printed for use at the wine exhibition post office at the Woodhough Gardens Wine Festival.

First Day Covers were issued at both the Festival and the Winery. I had trouble working out what this stamp was until I enlarged it on our television. Look closely and you can see three hands reaching out holding wine glasses while a bottle is pouring red wine into them. Fits the description too - "Wine Tasting."

New Zealand Wine Post Wine 1996 Tasting Days actual Glass Paper Master (no gum) used as a plate in the printing process. The plate was scanned and the sheets printed from it. Later sheets were printed from virtual digital images directly onto the gummed sheet paper with ink. So this is just one of a few that exist. The lines outside the frame are perforation guidelines. Only a small number of the sheetlets were printed from these Masters onto high resolution bright white ungummed paper which was gummed and perforated later. In practice, a lot of the sheets printed were rejected and are quite rare. The stamps are imperforate and no gum as intended. Very rare. Spectacular.

WP#13.  
      1996  Ruapehu Eruption - Commemorative.

        Date of Issue - 12th Oct 1996.

         Mount Ruapehu, or just Ruapehu, is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand. It is 23 kilometres northeast of Ohakune and 40 kilometres south-west of the southern shore of Lake Taupo, within Tongariro National Park.

         Ruapehu is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the largest active volcano in New Zealand. It is the highest point in the North Island and includes three major peaks: Tahurangi (2,797 m), Te Heuheu (2,755 m) and Paretetaitonga (2,751 m). The deep, active crater is between the peaks and fills with a crater lake between major eruptions. The North Island's major ski fields and only glaciers are on its slopes.

5G (5 Glasses)

 New Zealand Wine Post Mount Ruapehu Volcano Eruption block of four.

The stamp was designed, the watercolour artwork produced and the stamp printed while the Volcano was actually still erupting.

Spectacular eruptions occurred during 1995 and 1996. Ruapehu had been showing signs of increased activity since late November 1994, with elevated crater lake temperatures and a series of eruptions that increased in intensity over about nine months. Several lahars were observed, both in the Whangaehu River and other areas of the mountain, between 18 September and 25 September 1995, indicating the crater lake was being emptied by the eruptions. The largest eruption occurred during the night on 25th September 1995. Episodic eruptions continued until the end of November 1995.

Another period of smaller eruptions occurred in June of 1996.

1996 New Zealand Wine Post Ruapehu Volcano Eruption,

 1996 numbered presentation card.

WP#14.  

      1996  Christmas Stamp - Commemorative.

        Date of Issue - 19th Oct 1996.

           

3G (3 glasses) - Water into Wine.

The second Wine Post Christmas stamp depicts the first miracle of Jesus where He turned water into wine.

 1999 New Zealand Wine Post RUSH envelope to Catholic Book Shop. Last day before Xmas.

The stamp used is the 3G (3 glasses) 'Water into Wine' Christmas stamp. 
I think this is a very appropriate stamp to send to a Christian bookshop on the last day before Christmas.

Joined pair with major flaw in the right stamp. Scrolling appears in the right margin. I am unsure how this would have happened as the text appears to be the bible account of this miracle as told by the King James version.

WP#15.  

      1997  Food & Wine Festival - Commemorative.

        Date of Issue - 9th Mar 1997.

 

Specimen example.                                       Postage example.

I really like this stamp, that group of cute penguins with one holding a

glass of wine. The value is 1 Glass which is why only one penguin is holding a glass. Anyway, one glass of wine is probably enough to get the lot of them totally pissed.

WP#16. 

      1997 Guinness World Record. 

         Date of Issue - 12th Oct 1997.

5G (5 glasses)  World's Most Southern Winery.

In 1997, Weston Winery- home of the Wine Post,

was awarded the Guinness World Record for the World's Most Southern Winery.
(GPS- South 45 degrees 51.410 East /170 degrees 29.035)

A sheet of six colour tests with handwritten notes underneath. This sheet was obviously used during the final design process when the final colours were being decided.

 
WP#17; WP#18; WP#19.

     1998  Wine and Berries - Definitive.

       Date of Issue - 10th Oct 1998.

       

½G (glass) - White Wine. 

        

1G (glass) - Pink Wine.

           

1½G (glass) - Red Wine.

Three lower value definitive stamps showing three types of wine produced by Weston Winery. Each wine as depicted in a clear wine glass is accompanied by a bunch of the grapes used to produce it.

First Day of Issue - 10th Oct 1998.

For the Winepost Stamp Exhibition of 2012, this special sheet was produced featuring the 1998 Wines and Berries lowest value - ½G (glass) - White Wine. The design story of this stamp is shown from idea sketch to printed stamp.

WP#20.  

       1998  Christmas Stamp - Commemorative.

          Date of Issue - 10th Oct 1998.

3G (3 glasses) - Santa Claus.

A major colour error exists in this stamp. It was unnoticed that many of the sheets had almost no yellow in them. The faint yellow printing, on the right, appears darker blue in comparison with the correct printing on the far left, which has a much more vibrant yellow. Many of the First Day Covers had the error stamp on them and were issued.

First Day Cover for this issue.
I like the little birds in their winter scarfs. Cute!

WP#21.  
       1999  Romeo Bragato - Wine Pioneer.

          Date of Issue - 30th Aug 1999.

Romeo Bragato - Trial printing various colours.

1995 - Romeo Bragato. Numbered and imperforate sheet from a printing trial on thin gummed paper. This proved disappointing and a whiter thicker paper was chosen instead.

                 

Left-hand stamp - 1999 New Zealand Wine Post Bragato saw-tooth perforations. The blue appears to be a lighter shade that has affected both the blue value and the orange background.

Right-hand stamp - 1999 New Zealand Wine Post Romeo Bragato 'Morse Code' perforations.

1999 New Zealand Wine Post unique 2002 Stars Wars film cancellation.

1999 New Zealand Wine Post unique 2002 Space Shuttle 100th flight cancellation. 

        Romeo Alessandro Bragato (1858–1913) played a significant role in the early development of the wine industry in New Zealand. Premier Richard Seddon requested the loan of the services of Romeo Bragato from the Victorian Government in 1895.

        Bragato arrived in Bluff and was escorted by government officials to assess prospects for viticulture and winemaking in New Zealand. His resulting report ‘Prospects of Viticulture in New Zealand’ submitted to the Premier on 10th Sept, was very positive and became important in promoting the development of the young wine industry. His report recommended regions suitable for viticulture, the formation of district associations, importation of phylloxera-resistant vines for grafting.

        In 1902, Bragato accepts the post offered the previous year as Government Viticulturist for the New Zealand Department of Agriculture. In this role Bragato imports disease-resistant stocks distributing them for grafting, begins experimental winemaking at the expanded Waerenga Station, takes control of government vineyards in Hawkes Bay and Tauranga, organises field days for growers and prospective growers at Waerenga. 

        With the rise of the Temperance Movement, official support of the wine industry was withdrawn. In 1909, Romeo Bragato, frustrated and disillusioned, left New Zealand to settle in Canada. He never returned to this country again.

WP#22.  
     1999  Christmas Stamp - Commemorative.
       Date of Issue - 1st Nov 1999.

Weston Winery with wine barrels in the foreground.

 1999 New Zealand Wine Post RUSH envelope to the Printers. Last day before Xmas.
This cover features both the 1999 issues.

WP#23; WP#24.

      1999/2000 - Turn of the Century- Commemorative.

For more on these 'Turn of the Century' issues see our page

 New Zealand Wine Post   2000 - 2009.

         Stamps and many of the items found on these pages can be purchased from:-

New Zealand Wine Post (Stampmetro.) 

                 Collection Overview.

                 Page One - New Zealand Wine Post   1990 - 1999.

            Page Two - New Zealand Wine Post   2000 - 2009.

                           

            Page Three - New Zealand Wine Post   2010 - 2019.

            Page Four - New Zealand Wine Post  2020 - 2029.

            Special Page - New Zealand Wine Post - Official Stamps.

            Special Page - New Zealand Wine Post - Wine Labels.