Clyde viticulturist pick of the bunch

A 28-year old local viticulturist was the cream of this year’s crop in the fourth annual Central Otago’s Young Viticulturist of the Year awards held at Otago Polytechnic last weekend.

Mike Wing, a Diploma of Viticulture student at Cromwell’s Otago Polytechnic and an employee of Sam Neill’s Two Paddocks vineyard in Clyde, beat off stiff competition from seven other contestants to take top honours.

The regional runner up was Len Ibbotson from Grape Vision and third place went to Murray Petrie, another Otago Polytechnic Viticulture student who works at McArthur Ridge vineyard.

Each contestant was put through a series of tasks to demonstrate their theoretical and practical viticulture skills. Tasks included written tests on viticulture and plants, delivering a speech, vine pruning, workplace first aid, loading a truck using a forklift, constructing a trellis, and wine tasting.

Contestants were also timed through a series “hort sports” challenges designed to test their all-round skills such as laying irrigation, nailing up wires and rolling a barrel over prunings.

It was Mr Wing’s first time entering the competition and he was delighted to come away with a win.

“It was great fun, really well organised and covered a good mix of skills and knowledge. The only part I was dreading was the speech but it was fine once I got going. I’m really looking forward to going to the Napier conference and competition – apart from having to do another speech!” he says.

The Central Otago Young Viticulturist of the Year awards were organised by Raewyn Paviour, Otago Polytechnic’s Viticulture lecturer in Cromwell in association with the Central Otago Winegrowers Association.

Ms Paviour says it was fantastic to see the skill sets of the young viticulturists coming through the ranks.

“It definitely bodes well for our wine industry,” she says.

Mr Wing will now go forward to represent Central Otago at the National Young Viticulturist competition in Napier later this month which is part of the 2009 Romeo Bragato conference.

Should Mr Wing win in Napier he will go on to represent Viticulture at the Young Horticulturist competition in Auckland in November. The horticulture competition has been won by a viticulturist two out of three times.

First prize for the Central Otago Young Viticulturist of the Year was $1000, a set of wine glasses, a bottle of Quartz Reef Chauvet, entrance fees to the Bragato conference, accommodation and travel costs.