Nina Downer from Felton Road in Central Otago has been announced as the 2024 Young Viticulturist of the Year, and Georgia Mehlhopt from Greystone Wines in North Canterbury has become the 2024 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year.
For the first time, both national finals were held during the same week and the two winners announced at the Altogether Unique 2024 wine industry celebration at Te Papa on Thursday, 29 August.
The Young Winemaker national final was held on 27 August at Foley’s The Runholder in Martinborough and the Young Viticulturist national final was held at Escarpment the following day.
Katie Cameron from Ata Rangi came second in the Young Winemaker national final. The other contestants were Nick Lamain from VinLink and Callum Scarborough from Felton Road.
Anna Kelland from Constellation Brands who was the runner-up in the Young Viticulturist finals and Nick McArthur from Tiki Wines who placed third. The other contestants were Joe Stenberg from Te Mata Estate, James Sutcliffe from Craggy Range and Leon Henson from Batch Winery.
“It’s exciting to see so many talented future leaders coming through in both winemaking and viticulture,” says Nicky Grandorge, Leadership & Communities Manager at New Zealand Winegrowers.
“They are very ambitious, and their passion and enthusiasm rubs off on everyone involved with the programmes – it’s a really positive environment.”
Also the National Co-Ordinator for NZ Women in Wine, she adds: “It’s also really positive to see four young women take out the top two places in both competitions, highlighting the exciting career opportunities for both women and men in the wine industry.”
The national finals are a big step up from the qualifying regional finals and the competitors were tested on the wide range of skills and knowledge required to be an aspiring winemaker or viticulturist.
For the Young Winemakers, this included the Constellation Brands Laboratory Section and the Indevin Wine Judging section, along with a presentation. They also delivered their Fruitfed Supplies speeches at Wine Business Forum in Wellington entertaining the audience on how they envisaged the wine industry and their role as a winemaker in the year 2050.
The challenges for the Young Viticulturists included writing a biosecurity report and plan, setting up a trellising system, calibrating a seeder, sitting an interview and a general viti paper on soil, nutrition and pests and diseases.
They also had to assess an unexpected mock incident to test their leadership skills under pressure, went head to head in the infamous BioStart Hortisports, then finally delivered their speeches at the Celebration Dinner at Te Papa.
Nina Downer won a prize package including a Ford Ranger for a Year, a $6,000 Ecotrellis Travel Grant, a Leadership week and some Infaco Electrocoup secateurs worth $3,000.
Georgia Mehlhopt won a trip to Burgundy to visit the Tonnellerie de Mercurey (cooperage) and a spot as an Associate Judge at the New World Wine Awards.
Georgia also took out the Constellation Brands Laboratory Section and the Indevin Wine Judging section. Nick Lamain won the best Fruitfed Supplies speech.
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