Yealands valued at $75m

Record harvests and an oversupply of grapes may have hurt New Zealand's wine sector, but big names on the National Business Review Rich List this year show that some in the industry are still doing well.

The Giesen family, Jim and Rosemari Delegat, George Fistonich, Brent Marris and Peter Yealands are on the 2010 list released by the newspaper today.

Siblings Jim and Rosemari Delegat own two-thirds of their listed wine company and have seen their stock plummet more than 35 per cent during the first four months of 2010, the NBR says. Mr Delegat said companies in the business for the long run had to expect the odd disappointing year.

Their wealth was estimated at $115 million, No37 on the list and equal with Villa Maria Estate founder George Fistonich.

Mr Fistonich said Villa Maria's reputation had carried it through a tough time, helped by a distribution deal worth up to $100m, the NBR reported.

The Giesen family will produce their 26th vintage this year, and the family are reported as saying they are using the oversupply to explore new markets, such as Ukraine.

The NBR puts the family's worth at $130m, 35th on the list.

Meanwhile, Seddon-based Peter Yealands was Australasia's largest private grape grower, exporting to 30 countries, with annual turnover of nearly $50m and the capacity to handle 11,000 tonnes of grapes by 2013, the NBR said.

It put his wealth at $75m, putting him 45th equal on the list with Brent Marris.

Mr Marris set up The Ned vineyards and winery in the Waihopai Valley after he and father John sold the Wither Hills winery to Lion Nathan for $52m in 2002.

Mr Marris said the high New Zealand dollar was putting the squeeze on cashflow, and he was combating that by travelling to Europe to market his label.

The NBR quotes Jo Babich, of the Babich family, who own a West Auckland winery with vineyards in Hawke's Bay and Marlborough, as saying the company had been reasonably shielded from the recession and oversupply of grapes thanks largely to its maturity.

The Babich family's worth was estimated at $65m, No48 on the list.

Meanwhile, Motueka-based agribusiness family the Talleys, who own a processing plant near Blenheim, were 20th equal on the list, with an estimated value of $290m.

Prime Minister John Key also makes an appearance, at No50, with $55m.

This year there are 150 NBR Rich Listers, with 100 men, three women, 39 families and eight pairs. The paper says the overall wealth on the list has decreased slightly this year, down to just over $38 billion compared with the $39b net total recorded in 2009.

The threshold for being included on the list remained at $50m this year.

THE TOP 10

1 Graeme Hart $5.5 billion

2 Todd Family $2.7b

3 Eamon Cleary $2b

4 Lynette Erceg $1.5b

5 Christopher Chandler $1.4b

5 Richard Chandler $1.4b

6 Goodman Family $850 million

7 Stephen Jennings $800m

7 Sir Douglas Myers $800m

8 Sir Michael Fay $750m

8 David Richwhite $750m

9 Michael Friedlander $700m

9 Spencer family $700m

10 Peter Cooper $650m

- The Marlborough Express