Who We Are

We are a small privately owned NZ company which manufactures standards for enzymatic wine analysis.  They can be used with enzymatic analysis test kits used either in manually operated spectrophotometers or with discrete analysers.  They are not restricted to any one brand of enzymatic test kit and so can be used with almost all enzymatic analysis test kits available to the NZ wine industry.

In addition we are adding other laboratory chemicals and reagents utilized by the NZ Wine Industry one by one as the business develops.  We now have a comprehensive range available for upcoming vintages.

From October 2020 we began offering the full range of Enzymatic Test Kits manufactured by Unitech Scientific in California.

We also source and supply niche chemicals to industries outside of the wine industry.

A wee bit about myself.

In my early working life I was trained in analytical chemistry while working at what used to be the NZ government laboratories – the DSIR.  I spent some years in both the Food Chemistry Division in Wellington and the Chemistry Division in Auckland.

My whole working life has been associated with chemistry while being employed in the minerals and chemicals industries.  Much of this time has included selling various products to the wine industry.  This includes a wide range of dry goods, yeasts, enzymes, minerals, fertilisers, test kits and in more recent times, spectrophotometric autoanalysers.

My earliest recollections of the wine industry go back quite some years to my early teens when I worked in the vineyards and cellar at Nobilos Wines during the school holidays.  I set up their first laboratory while I was still at school.  Somewhat rudimentary, it consisted of a pH meter and some simple titration glassware along with a few laboratory chemicals.

My interest in supporting our wine industry remains a passion.

I also have an interest in our New Zealand backyard as a keen tramper, fisherman and in my younger days, as a hunter. You will find throughout this website and my newsletters reflections on our beautiful landscape, especially our native flora and fauna.

Email: - steve@rubie.com           Mobile: -       +64-21-498-364