Young wine industry talent in competition

The future stars of the New Zealand wine industry will be in Marlborough today, competing for the coveted titles of best young viticulturist and winemaker.

The Bayer Young Viticulturist of the Year and Tonnellerie de Mercurey New Zealand Young Winemaker of the Year competitions are being held in the region to tie in with the Romeo Bragato Conference.

The industry conference, which was last held in Marlborough two years ago, starts on Wednesday and runs through to Friday at the ASB Theatre Marlborough.

New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said the conference, which will attract around 600 people to the region, was one of the most important events on the wine calendar.

‘‘It does two things, one of the aims is to highlight some of the big issues and opportunities for the industry, the other is to drill down into a lot of detail in some of the technical areas,’’ he said.

The Bayer Young Viticulturist of the Year competition, which kicked off today, was being held at the Villa Maria winery on New Renwick Rd.

The national final, which included five competitors from Auckland, Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, Central Otago and Wairarapa, followed on from regional competitions which started in June.

National co-ordinator Nicky Grandorge said the national event was a step up, so the young viticulturists would have been working hard in preparation.

The first day included a number of challenges testing competitors on their theoretical and practical skills, followed by a quick fire round at the Bragato conference on Wednesday night.

On Thursday evening, each of the challengers had to deliver a speech at the Bragato Wine Awards Dinner, with the winner being announced later in the night.

Grandorge said winning the prestigious title helped open doors for competitors, with many going on to secure promotions and cement their place in the growing industry, which is continuing to expand.

It also helped encourage innovation and foster talent, which was crucial to ensuring the New Zealand wine industry was able to reach its goal of $2 billion in exports by 2020, she said.

Members of the public could attend the Biostart Hortisports race, which was being held at 1.30pm today.

This was the only section of the viticultural competition where the competitors went head-to-head, racing down a vineyard row, completing a number of challenges.

Previous tasks included bobbing for apples, plucking a duck and filleting a fish, Grandorge said.

Marlborough would be represented in the competition by Pernod Ricard grower liaison Brenton O’riley, who won the regional final in June for the second time.

The region was also well represented in the winemaker of the year competition, with Jordan Hogg of Seresin Estate and Matt Fox of Hyland Viticulture making up half of the four-strong field.

The Tonnellerie de Mercurey New Zealand Young Winemaker of the Year competition was being held at the Marlborough Research Centre.