By working together, the next generation got ahead of the game

The pool table at Babich Wines is older than the winery itself, dating back to the 1890s.

Bought from the Avondale Pool Hall in the 1940s, the table’s seen its share of stories unfold. But some of its finest moments were in the 1960s, when a new generation of young Croatian winemakers would congregate around it most weeks. In between racking up a few frames, they swapped techniques and ideas, successes and failures, and helped build the foundation of the New Zealand wine industry.