PASSION IN EVERY POUR
When a winemaker with 25 years of experience turns his hand to gin, the result is anything but accidental.
Richard Robson has spent a career working at the highest levels of winemaking – from senior roles at Australian estates Yalumba and Plantagenet, to leading winemaking at Matakana Estate after relocating to New Zealand in 2007 with his wife Sally, an accomplished wine writer and journalist. So when Richard turned his attention to gin, it was always going to be approached with the same rigour and precision he brings to everything else.
The idea began with curiosity and a quiet frustration. Richard and Sally had watched the gin industry boom unfold with interest, but found many of the new releases disappointing – style over substance, novelty over flavour. "There are a lot of newcomers going for novelty value, but some of them don't even taste like gin," Richard reflects. It got him wondering whether he could do better.
What followed was two years of dedicated study and experimentation. Richard enrolled with the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers in the UK – the global standard-setter for the industry – while simultaneously trialling different methods and botanicals in small batches. The goal was never to be flashy. From the outset, Richard and Sally wanted to create a classic, premium gin – one that holds its own in a long G&T without resorting to unusual colours or gimmicks.
The result is Omaha Gin: a London Dry style made entirely by hand in Matakana in small batches, using classic botanicals including locally sourced orange, lemon, and lime peel, the finest juniper available, and Matakana rainwater. Every element is considered, every batch made from scratch.
The name is personal. Omaha is where Richard plays golf each week, where the family walk the dog, where their boys learned to swim – and where, from their home at Takatu, they overlook the bay and Omaha spit. It felt like the only name that made sense.
Omaha Gin is available online at Wine Circle and locally at a growing number of venues and stores, including The Vintry, The Matakana Village Pub, Omaha Golf Club, The Bridgehouse, Matakana Liquor, Kowhai Liquor, The Bottle-O in Warkworth, and Liquorland Snells Beach. While future limited releases may follow, the commitment to classic, authentic flavour will remain constant – because for Richard, this was never about following a trend, it was about setting a standard.
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