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).
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? And, it's ALWAYS handy to have a Marty on board!
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.