PROTECT Matt Large. Photo by Jim Tannock
Omicron Vintage Planning, preparation, segregation and PPE SOPHIE PREECE
“The big unknown is the most stressful bit. The hope is that you plan for a disaster and hopefully it’s just a small little storm.”
“THE TIMING couldn’t be worse,” says Wither Hills head winemaker Matt Large as Omicron’s spread threatens the upcoming vintage. A month earlier and it could have peaked before harvest; a month later, the vintage would be at its tail end, says Matt, three days after New Zealand went into the red traffic light setting. “I think that’s why all wineries are spending a lot of time and effort on contingency plans and ‘what when?’ rather than ‘what if?’” Wither Hills’ business continuity plan – based partly on learnings from parent company Lion in Australia – factors in the potential for 30% of their staff not being at work at any one time this vintage. That’s a massive hit given the labour shortage already being felt by wine companies, and the lack of experience in cellars this season, due to border closures. Matt says they’re conscious of the risk of staff or contractors catching Covid-19, including the Omicron variant, but the cost of close contacts having to isolate is potentially the bigger issue. The rules at the time of writing stipulate that in phase one of the Omicron response, cases isolate for 14 days and contacts for 10 days. The isolation period reduces in phases two, as infection spreads. “The last thing you want to happen is have someone on-site catch it and you find out that the whole shift becomes a close contact because of the way we operated. And that whole shift has to go home,” says Matt. “So we 10 / Winepress February 2022
Matt Large have a whole lots of plans with PPE (personal protective equipment) masks, segregation, physical distancing, different bathrooms, different break rooms. All those things are being looked into to try and work out the best way to do it.” Meanwhile, the winery and vineyard team are going through “every single role” to assess who has competencies in each, if the primary employee can’t be there. “What is involved? Who can do it? Who can’t?” If there are not one or two backups for a job, then they drill into “what training is ready to go or what training we can do now”, Matt says. They are training more harvester drivers than they need, so skills are on hand if people have to stay home, and vineyard managers are being given refresher training so they can jump in the seat too. In the winery, the same thing is happening, with managers gearing up to hit the coalface if required. “Realistically, no-one is above doing another role below them or beside them,” says Matt. “If I have got to clean the drains because that’s the priority of the day, then that’s what I will do.” That mentality has filtered through the whole business, from permanents to casuals, including many kept on from last harvest. “They are all very much, ‘what can I do to help?’”
