top of page

 The New Zealand Wine Post began operations on the 8th of December 1990 with the Burgundy WineBird issue. The Wine Post was born as one of the first independent posts of New Zealand.  Indications are given for First Day Covers, Presentation Cards and other related material. The Wine Post also sometimes issues proof material derived from the archive collection. Linking to Stamp Metro articles and lavish illustrations in an attempt to bring some of the history to collectors.      Wine Post articles for collectors

 1990 - 1994

 1990

​ WINEBIRD 

WP#1.

Dec 8, 1990

$25 USD

1991

​DODGE DELIVERY 

WP#2.

$25 USD

1992

​GUERNSEY LADY 

WP#3.

$15 USD

1992

​DUNEDIN AIRSHOW 

WP#4.

$15 USD

Initially only the Winebird stamp was printed as a definitive, intended to be for local mail. At first the WineBird stamp was to be the only design and it was printed in sheets of 24, but as word got around about this stamp and the sheets, collectors demanded mini-sheets rather than a whole sheet. So the large sheets and two mini-sheets or sheetlets were printed as one Press sheet with mini-sheets at the bottom.  It was planned that  it would take some time before higher values would be needed and the design would stay the same with the value changing only. But it soon became evident that the collector demand was reducing the stocks faster than anticipated as they demanded mint stamps mainly. This first issue was also a stimulus to wine sales where many stamps were requested to be on the bottled label and sometimes on mint wine labels that soon became a collector item as well. The time came to change the value of the Wine Bird stamp but instead it was found easier and faster to  design a new stamp instead, and print it on the bottom of the wine labels as sheetlets. And this would also cater for different destinations. So the Dodge Delivery stamp was issued  for further distant local destinations and the Guernsey Lady was issued for worldwide destinations or the North Island. The Dunedin Airshow was added as a Commemorative and first issued at the Dunedin Airshow to promote the stamps and the winery. 

 Prices are for mint never hinged. (MNH).

​

1992

​WINES & FLOWERS 

1993

GUERNSEY LADY OFFICIALS

                Over Prints 

1994

AIR EXPORT CALIFORNIA 

WP#5. -a,b,c.d

The topic for the first multi-color issue was the winery flowers and the wines with a new range of different values to meet the demands replacing the previous issues. It was a bold issue being se-tenant as well.

WP#6.

WP#3-a,b.

The first overprints were for  Official mail to Parliament and Government offices. Instead of printing specially issued stamps for the purpose the Guernsey Lady stamps in reserve were overprinted as the first Officials.

Late in 1994 it was decided to recognize the emergence of Special Air Export wine to California as a provisional for a specific destination.  Printed in single stamp sheetlets and sheets of ten.

​ORANGE WINEBIRD 

ornagewinebird1.jpg

WP#0.

While the new winery was being built in 1990, it was decided to operate the mail with it's own postage stamp for its New Zealand and foreign mail. The winery would also serve as the official Post Office. The winery had the special position of being the World's Most Southern Winery so this gave the winery and the Wine Post special significance.This was a natural evolution from the previous postage that operated in the the first winery of a different location in the 1980's. The Orange Wine Bird was the final development phase in the evolution of the stamp design and production. It was first used from October to November but probably first issued on Oct 10. The Wine Post holds in it's archive a few rare mint, gummed Orange Wine Bird sheets that include the mini-sheets still attached. These stamps were used for actual mail and trial mails.

Printer: Southern Print.
Paper Type: unwatermarked, wetable gum.

Oct 16, 1990

 Examples of the Orange Winebird are available for sale on request and pricing.

​

1985

 1980- 1989. These were the Forerunner years to the Wine Post in the eighties. They were known as Wine Revenue stamps or Weston's Wine Postage. They were first used for the first winery at Berwick St. They were produced gummed and were roulette perforated for wine, mail delivery, and for fiscal reasons. But these were instantly collected with the wine labels. 

 

This is a very valuable and interesting area of collecting that gave rise to the Wine Post. The very first Forerunner stamp was the red Weston's Wine Postage 12 cent stamp which commemorated the first winner of the Purakanui Regatta which had been revived by the winery and friends. This was always held on New Zealand Day. This was issued in the days when the winery was a popular amateur operation.

​

Weston's Winery ran occasional special posts of wine and news letters in an old vintage Dodge truck and various other vehicles to Purakanui. The Regatta was a regular event and those stamps were used in invites to the Regatta committee dinner at the winery where the course was agreed. For collectors this is an interesting field containing early stamps, wine labels and artworks found in the Orange Wine Bird page that has been created.

​

The Wine Bird Signergraph or Glyphic first appeared on the Wine Bird wine in 1983 and on the stamps soon after and remains for Weston winery and the post today. The first wines appeared in 1981.​

​

 Mint and gummed examples of the Halley's Comet stamp are available for sale on request and pricing.

​

​COLLECTABLE  PHILATELIC  ITEMS 

 Stamps, overprints, specimen overprints, Presentation cards,  Covers, First Day Covers, postmarks, proofs, imperforate stamps, flaws, errors, color shifts, missing colors, trial printings, stamp sheets, sheetlets, artwork, Antarctica Post stamps.

​

© 2024 by Name of Site. Proudly created with Wix.com

​

bottom of page