Blair Walter
Life has moved on for the wunderkind winemaker. His boat seems to be gathering dust, lying abandoned on the shores of Lake Dunstan. Instead, like Mr Toad, he has been seduced by the glories of the air. Revelling in his new found freedom as a pilot, he undoes all the careful environmental work of the week in a cloud of Avgas each weekend.
Significantly, not many of the team have been shouting for a slot in the passenger seat. Perhaps when there are more landings in the logbook than vintages, there will be more enthusiasm?
Larissa Woods
You may think that with a distinguished wine academic history at Germany's famed Geisenheim Unversity Larissa would be something of a wine snob. In fact you’d better focus on locking up your gin!
She is no newcomer to us, having worked in the vineyards here for some time, before turning to the specialist technical department at Felton Road: Think of the department that Q runs in James Bond films then add a lot of tricked up tractors and pruning shears. Having passed the exhausting physical onslaught that Blair imposes on every wannabe winery team member, (climbing steep hills pushing an empty barrel just for openers) she now sits in the covetted role of being his number 2.
Tracy Thomson
The little cheese, as she originally chose to be described, has definitely matured. Slowly it has dawned upon her the massive power she wields as guardian of the allocation list.
Early mornings at the winery, visitors may be surprised to hear the frenzied cry: "mine, all mine!" coming from the tasting room and she has learned the classic expression of superior regret (perfected from studying many sommeliers) as she says: "I'm so sorry you're not on the Block list yet."
In short, she's learned fast.
Sarah Lundon
With over forty export markets to manage, Sarah is rapidly acquiring advanced skills in diplomacy and foreign policy. Her expertise is intimidating: why does Mauritius need all that Chardonnay? Does Finnish Pinot consumption peak in winter or summer? Do the merry folk of the Turks and Caicos like magnums?
If the simple pleasures of Bannockburn ever dwindle, there would be ministries in Wellington happy to tap into this sort of inside information.
Nigel Greening
Nigel has temporarily abandoned Wanaka for Devon in the UK, so can be found carving chair legs in his workshop more often than terrorising trout. While he hasn't completely handed in his frequent flier cards, there is definitely a trend to a more rustic lifestyle. The chef thing seems to have been acquiring a new lease of life recently, with a number of TV appearances but be warned: the dishes might look plausible, but try to eat them at your peril.
With Hamish, his teenage son, now way ahead of him on skis, he retreats to the comfort that he can still cut it on the guitar, though new albums have been noticeably absent of late. Perhaps next year?
Gareth King
The Pied Piper of Bannockburn continues to lead his merry international gang of interns around the vineyards. His ability to find the right bod for the job continues to astound. If you need somebody who can source you a Mongolian umbrella designer with a fondness for dandelion tea, then Gareth is your man. He will deliver you a choice of three before the day is out. Whether he could find you a viticulturist may be another question. Somehow though, Gareth and his bizarre but brilliant band get the job done to perfection.
Nicola Greening
The first of the second generation of Greenings has now joined the fold! After many years of city banks and hedge funds in London, Nicola escaped one dark night, a whisker ahead of the crash, and now hides in deepest Otago. While her Dad threatens her with 118,000 vines to prune, she keeps her head down running EU sales and applying her IT skills to bring us screaming into the modern era. Makes a mean chocolate gingerbread as well.
Ingrid Hansen
Imagine this:
You apply for a job. You want to host visitors to the winery. What are your qualifications?
You have two girls, a drummer for a husband, a rabbit and used to have an Axolotl called Mango?
Sounds like a shoe in to me. You’re hired.
What’s that? Oh, you’ve also worked as a winemaker locally? You know a lot about the Bannockburn vineyards?
OK, but let’s hear more about Mango...
Vineyard Crew
There are 127,931 vines out there; it's almost 145 km to walk the rows, so it takes a keen team to make it all happen.
Gareth leads, with Annabel as lieutenant (although we may have to promote her to “Major” following her win of both the Young Viticulturist and Young Horticulturist competitions in 2018!). Jeanine (Cromwell Polytech) and Nina (Lincoln Uni) keep the casual staff focused on daily tasks. James works both inside (the winery) and out (the vineyard).
Scott, after five years, you would have to say has passed his apprenticeship. Danny raises (and kills) the goats and cattle, he also keeps us in plentiful supply of rabbits and hares. Karen decided if she can’t keep Gareth from being at the vineyard all day, every day she might as well help out, and along with Alex grows the veg and tends to the many amenity and native restoration areas that the four properties have. Jude and Phillipa are full-time Mums who work in the vineyard part-time. Nicci, well, what doesn't Nicci do?
We always have a strong Kiwi focus on our team but each year the international brigade changes. Covid 19 has meant no arrivals now for the last few months, so we have seen a steady amount of stranded interns staying on with at least 7 or 8 countries represented. There always seems to be an American contingent, both sides of the 49th parallel, and sometimes some from the southern half of the continent. Germany and France are a given and Asia is normally represented. Most of the team have already studied viticulture at tertiary level, or have grown up on a family estate, learning on the job. With much of the vineyard work done by hand and every vine needing individual, careful attention, it is something of a labour of love, though it doesn't feel like it on a freezing morning with a block of vines to prune.
Whenever Gareth travels, he is able to meet up with alumni of the unofficial Felton Road biodynamic intern programme. A testament to the reach of our vines.
Animals
The Chooks: Whenever you are wandering through the vineyard, you’re liable to hear a curious little cluck and look down to see one of the girls come to see what your up to. Their coop is on wheels, so it shifts from place to place to share out the benefits of their foraging to the various parts of Elms Vineyard. A big question for debate is whether when the coop moves from Block 5 to Block 8, whether the eggs taste different.
The cattle: At a recent conference on Biodynamics, after a presenter had been explaining how to make Prep 500 (dung overwintered in a buried cow's horn), a questioner raised their hand rather nervously: "Where do you get the cow's horns from?" he asked. "Cows." Came the terse reply.
So our Highland cattle are up in the hills supplying us not just with steak in the future, but also with somewhere to put our dung of a winter. And you thought your life was strange...
The goats: What do you say about a goat? After a brilliant early career reading applied topology at MIT he went on to eat briar bushes for the rest of his life? They're goats, they don't have CV's. They do taste good though.
Jancis: All wineries have dogs and we have a couple around: Bella and her daughter Bliss. But neither dare venture indoors at the winery, or even to close to the doors. For there lies Jancis. Normally she is lying, curled up tight in her bed, dreaming of the adventures of the night before. But woe betide the dog who dares to step onto her territory; they don’t try it twice. She may not be a Master of Wine like her names-sake but she is a of Mistress of Whiskers. And for her, that’s just as good.
