PROTECT Saint Clair winemaker Stewart Maclennan applauds a six-day harvest week.
Winemaker Survey Checking up on work-life balance SOPHIE PREECE
A SURVEY into the work-life balance of Marlborough winemakers has revealed plenty of love for the region and industry, but a concerning trend around work hours. Wine Marlborough advocacy manager Vance Kerslake sent out the survey late last year, after discussions with a small group of industry leaders concerned by the unrelenting nature of the work. He says everyone expects harvest to be a period of big days and full commitment, with all the buzz of vintage. But that is no longer followed by a quiet period to recalibrate and restore work-life balance, says Vance. “People respond to pressure in different ways. For some people it’s exciting and for other people it’s stressful. Both are manageable if it’s also paired with recovery.” Nautilus winemaker Clive Jones, one of the instigators of the survey, says he’s become concerned over the past three years as the level of work has ramped up, thanks in part to maturing vines and increasingly compressed harvests, exacerbated by a couple of challenging vintages. He and Vance say the survey had plenty of positive feedback, as well as some red flags the industry needs to consider. “I see this as going from good to great,” says Vance. The survey received 99 responses,
with more than half of those received within days. The results showed that most respondents, surveyed anonymously, loved working in the Marlborough wine industry and expected long vintage hours as part of the role. However, they were less positive about their ability to retain a work-life balance, the annual workload, and their willingness to talk to an employer about having too many hours, he says. Saint Clair senior winemaker Stewart Maclennan, who helped establish the survey, says the issue is particularly
“If that person gets a day off, they are so much better for us.” Stewart Maclennan relevant in Marlborough because of its rapid growth and the nature of Sauvignon Blanc. “It’s not a Merlot that will sit in a barrel for three years, so the next vintage is highly anticipated.” When the vintage excitement is over,
winemakers are still under the pump, blending and preparing wines, then perhaps heading off to sell them. He too is concerned that winemakers have little opportunity to bounce back from the grind of harvest, so that their productivity “absolutely crashes”. One of the questions in the survey asks about consecutive working days, and the responses imply that several companies have enacted six-day harvest weeks, so their employees get a day off. Stewart says Saint Clair has run that system for the past few years, with a myriad of positive outcomes. “You start to see the reduction in benefit of people working right to the end. If that person gets a day off, they are so much better for us.” At senior levels in the company, it can feel “impossible” to be away over those key periods. But it results in other people better understanding the role, and learning how to cover for them, he says. “There are a lot of strengths to be gained that companies might not at first realise.” Vance says one of the great things about the Marlborough wine industry is its collaborative nature, with people willing to share knowledge and outcomes. “It will be interesting to hear from them about how they are dealing with this.”
Winepress February 2020 / 11
