Pick with care in wine industry

By TOM CLARKE

Young people considering a career in viticulture need to be cautious about where they do their study, according to international viticulturist Dr Michael Trought, who has just joined Villa Maria Estate as its Marlborough viticulturist.

Dr Trought says that, like Villa Maria, the New Zealand wine industry is in its infancy, but it has enormous potential and needs to look at the education available for people wanting to work in it.

He wants a more collaborative approach to education for the industry. There are a range of courses available in viticultural technology in New Zealand, but he worries about some educators jumping on the bandwagon merely to attract extra students with their viticulture-based courses.

Dr Trought believes the Lincoln University course, with which he has been involved, is the best, but says which course is the most suitable depends on where students see their ultimate place in the industry.

Educating people to work in the industry is important because wine producing is really only getting started here, he says. New Zealand wine at the top end of the market is regarded internationally as among the best in the world, and he believes sauvignon blanc and pinot noir has little competition because there are relatively few places in the world with the right climate to produce such wines with the finesse of the New Zealand product.

In his new role with Villa Maria Dr Trought will work closely with company vineyards and independent growers in Marlborough to ensure they are producing fruit that the company's winemakers need for wines wanted by the market.

He defines his work as a mentoring and guidance role.

Dr Trought was born in Great Britain, studied at the Harper Adams Agricultural College and the Royal Agricultural Society and gained a BSc with honours at the University of Wales and a PhD in plant physiology at the University of Reading.

He came to New Zealand in the late 70s to take up a post-doctoral fellowship with the plant diseases division of the then Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in Auckland.

He later worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in Nelson where he gained a national reputation for his work on irrigation of horticultural crops and the influence of soils.

In 1984, he joined the Marlborough Research Centre in Blenheim where he did research on commercial vineyards and, in 1992, joined Lincoln University as senior lecturer in viticulture and fruit science.

He will continue as a part-time member of Lincoln University's teaching staff under a contract between the university and Villa Maria.