Quality wine needs quality wine growers – it all starts on the vine
6 November 2022
Primary ITO has responded to the wine growing industry’s need for a programme dedicated to their unique requirements.
The New Zealand Apprenticeship in Wine Growing (Level 3 and 4) has been launched with the support of the industry and enrolments are now open.
Primary ITO Sector Manager for wine growing Jimmy Crockett says that previously, learners had enrolled in a fruit production apprenticeship, which wasn’t ideal for their specific needs. Wine Growing is a unique programme in that it deals with growing a product which still needs a lot of work after it’s picked.
“If you think about apples and pears, they’re packaged as a final product just like that. But with wine, it starts with the grapes. So any aspect of vineyard work has an effect on the wine that they’re producing from these crops. They’re not actually producing fruit, they’re producing wine.”
Jimmy expects that most people enrolling in the programme will have done a reasonable amount of work on a vineyard already. “That means they will have an understanding of the basic tasks, but this training will help them develop the knowledge of why that work is necessary, which is critical to progressing in the industry.”
Within the programme, there are many choices to cater to the specific needs of the employer and the learner. The main roles it’s suitable for are vineyard supervisors, managers and assistant managers.
To enquire about the new apprenticeship, please fill in the form below and your local team will be in touch soon.