Tim Finn is best known for the part he played in developing Neudorf Vineyards and producing wines that met international acclaim. But he was also passionate about the community and above all, he loved being a dad.
The pioneering winemaker passed away this month at the age of 79. His daughter, Rosie, who is carrying on his legacy in the vineyard, describes him as a scientist at heart who brought rigour, openness, and experimentation to winemaking.
Tim and her mother, Judy, established Neudorf Vineyards in Upper Moutere at a time when she says few believed great wine could come from New Zealand. With two milled macrocarpas, a homemade winery, and limitless curiosity, they built a reputation that helped shape New Zealand’s place in global wines.
Rosie says it was his instinct for site and quality that helped elevate Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay to international acclaim, but his contribution went far beyond trophies.
He was an early advocate for screw caps and modernisation within the industry, driven by quality rather than convention. His appointment as a Fellow of New Zealand Winegrowers (2008) recognised not just his personal excellence but his collaborative spirit and influence across the industry.
His concern about the future of the planet prompted him to become a founding member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand and he championed environmental responsibility.
Today, Neudorf is organically certified and run on solar power. As a man of the community, Rosie says her father was on the initial board of The Moutere Hills Community Centre, established the Moutere Hills Residents Association and was deeply passionate about the Moutere having a heart to bring people together. She says he would have loved to have seen the pathway from the school to the centre open recently.
Beyond wine and the Moutere, Tim was a diver, fisherman, traveller, gardener, and lover of music – especially the blues and Bob Dylan. Rosie says he adored family holidays at the bach in Awaroa, teaching her everything he knew. He had a life of adventure with Jude and camping trips were fuelled by little more than milk, tea bags, and self-reliance. He was also a rugby fanatic, from playing at university, to his beloved All Blacks, Mako and Hurricanes.
Fiercely proud of her dad, Rosie says his friends and colleagues will remember him for his curiosity, generosity, and contagious smile - a man who could graft a vine, fix a pump, debate climate science, and pour you a glass of wine at the end of the day.
Jude and Rosie will also remember his love of life, immense bravery, stubborn nature and extremely kind heart.
Jude and Rosie continue to be co-owners of the Neudorf Vineyards where Rosie says his legacy is “quite literally deep-rooted in the vines of Moutere clay”.
Her father once said, “We knew very little except we wanted to make beautiful wine in beautiful surroundings”.
Rosie says he did both – magnificently.
