Bay student Casey Mackintosh second in North Island Young Winemaker of the Year

Casey Mackintosh is enjoying the third year of her Bachelor of Viticulture & Wine Science at EIT / Te Pūkenga.

Casey Mackintosh was working in Wellington when a chance conversation with a Hawke’s Bay winemaker led to her enrolling at EIT / Te Pūkenga.

The move paid off because Casey, currently a third-year Bachelor of Viticulture & Wine Science student, recently came second in the 2023 Tonnellerie de Mercurey North Island Young Winemaker of the Year.

Originally from Northland, Casey had been working in Wellington in a pharmacy technician role.

“I really enjoyed the chemistry aspect of it, but it was just kind of lacking the passion behind it. I’ve always really liked wine so I opted into a sales role in Wellington.

“That’s when I met Gordon Russell, who was the Esk Valley winemaker at the time, and the way he spoke about wine, incredibly passionate, prompted me to move to Hawke’s Bay two weeks later to pursue this wine career.

“I just felt like the North Island was just a better fit for me. Hawke’s Bay is amazing and I particularly liked chardonnay. It’s also quite a long growing season and there’s a lot of different fruit in the area.”

Casey, 28, says she is loving the degree. While a fulltime student, she is still keeping her hand in by working at Villa Maria, which is now owned by Indevin.

“They’ve just given me a lot of opportunity to upskill and to keep challenging myself. I moved into the production side about three years ago, started my first vintage as cellar hand and absolutely loved it. I was able to organise to work vintages as well as study fulltime.

“Villa kept me on as a part-time student during the off season, and in exchange, I would work vintage. Every year I’ve managed to secure supervisor positions and they’ve just given me more opportunity to upskill. They’ve been phenomenal.”

She says it has been challenging doing both, “But I really enjoy learning the theory. The lecturers are amazing and passionate, but being able to actually see that happen in the winery has really flicked the switch for me.

“It’s solidified those theory learnings into practical processes that happen in the winery, so it’s solidified what I’m learning and it’s been extremely helpful.”

Casey is now working as a junior assistant winemaker at Villa Maria.

“I am staying on with Villa. I hope to progress further into winemaking. I want to get some overseas experience and be able to bring that back. I think it’s vital.

“Although I joined the wine industry for the love of wine, I feel like I’ve stayed in it because of the people that I’ve met, extremely generous with knowledge and the kindness that I’ve been shown is incredible. People are really willing to share things with you if you are interested enough to learn,” says Casey.

Sue Blackmore, head of the School of Viticulture and Wine Science, said, “The Viticulture and Wine Science School congratulates Casey on her successes, academically, professionally and in the Young Winemaker competition.

“As part of her final year degree, she completed a research project on Wine consumption and Behaviour of Gen Z in New Zealand that has been greeted with interest by the wine industry.”