From Student to Vineyard Cadet

I’m the vineyard cadet for the Hawke’s Bay vineyards, based at Craggy Range. This is a two-year cadetship, which is a programme designed to expose me to all aspects of the management of a vineyard and producing quality fruit. So, that exposes me to vineyard technical data-collections, machinery operating, and the decisions made in management.

I love that it is a really small community, and it brings people together. Especially in Hawke’s Bay, we can all catch up over a wine and can enjoy each other’s company. If you ever need some help when you’re in the vineyard or need some advice you can just call somebody and someone’s always happy to help. I also love that every growing season is always different – there’re always different challenges, and something to problem solve. I also like that you can follow the grapes throughout the season and see the final product in a bottle of wine.

I went to Lincoln University straight out of school and did a bachelor of viticulture and oenology. I loved the outdoors and science when I was at school, so it was a pretty cool degree to study. From there I worked in a winery and now I’ve come to Craggy Range.

I love that I’m always learning. Everyday there’s always something different to learn whether it’s small or big. It’s really cool, it keeps it interesting, no day is dull, and it’s always exciting.

A day in my life is very diverse. It changes every day which I love, so it’s always exciting coming to work. It can range from data-collection in the vineyard, assisting with supervision of contract crews, to operating machinery. For example, today we were doing pruning weights. We were collecting the pruning wood and weighing it which gives us an idea of vine balance and vine health which is critical.

Last year I competed in the Young Viticulturist of the Year: Hawke’s Bay competition where they test you with all theory and practical knowledge in managing a vineyard. I won, which was a huge achievement. I think it shows how valuable my cadetship is because it is teaching me a valuable set of skills.

I’m coming to the end of my two-year cadetship. I’m going over to France - to Bordeaux - to work a vintage. It’s really cool with this industry that you can go from working Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Then I’m coming back to a permanent job with Craggy Range. I see myself in 5 years still working with viticulture. I know that this is the path of the wine industry I want to stay in. There’s lots of cool aspects of the wine industry that I’m interested in, but viticulture is where I want to be.

Go for it! This industry is so cool, there’s always something to learn, and it’s because it is smaller that there’s so many friendly people who are willing to show you something. I would say to find a job that does show you different aspects of the wine industry, like I have, because I get to see the viticulture side mostly plus parts of the business side which is really cool – I can explore different areas and decide what path to go down. I think it is important to find a company that does value that and wants to show you those things. The vineyard cadetship was the best way to kickstart my career. It’s given me a really good base knowledge in the vineyard that I’ll be able to use for the rest of my career.