We had our very first tours at Wildshark Vineyard last weekend and they were a hit! If you’ve not visited the vineyard already, we wanted to introduce you to our Assistant Vineyard Manager, Ben!
You’ll see Ben at the vineyard zooming around in the truck or helping with our tours and tastings, be sure to say Hi if you see him!
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY?
I have to say my favourite part of working at the vineyard in harvest time. Seeing the previous year’s hard work come to fruition (pardon the pun) makes it all worth it. In particular our first harvest was exciting, because we were able to see what our first batches of wine might look like and how much we could produce – it set us up really well for working even harder this year to produce great quality grapes for next year’s wines!
WHAT INSPIRES YOU WITHIN YOUR ROLE?
Something I find truly inspiring working at Wildshark is the endless possibilities the site holds. With such a diverse space, the sky is the limit on what we can achieve. I’m also really passionate about how we’re supporting in every way we can. Planting the wildflowers in every other row, planting thousands of trees and foliage around the site as well as putting up owl boxes and a whole lot more! We want to give back to the vineyard what it gives to us.
WHAT'S THE BEST MONTH FOR YOU AT THE VINEYARD?
I would have to say October is the best month for me. All the grapes for the year have been picked and set off to be made into delicious wine, there’s a quiet before the storm of preparing for next season and it’s also a chance to reflect on what we, as a team, have achieved.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2025?
I’m really excited to plant more vines, expanding what we do in terms of wine the next year. I’m also excited to see developments on the site for tourism, creating more exciting spaces for our customers to explore and seeing how our current planting scheme in the water cress bed take shape. Exciting stuff!
CAN YOU TELL US WHAT AN AVERAGE DAY FOR YOU LOOKS LIKE?
Depending on the season, my average day will vary. Winter will include mostly pruning the vines so they have a suitable amount of nodes for the future crop to grow from. While doing the occasional planting of new trees and maintenance around the whole site.
Spring is busy and mostly includes spraying to support the health and growth of our vines. This is when tour’s start as well, so supporting Alex and Martin as and when needed. These tasks include whizzing around in the ATV dropping off wine and picnic hampers.
Summer is all about ensuring vine health with continued sprays that focus on protecting the grape bunches as well as trimming the canopy so that growth can focus on the grapes.
Autumn is all about Harvest and doing what ever job is necessary to ensure grapes get picked at their peak.
