Stellar Cellar Hands

Allison Hassler - hooked on vintage

KAT DUGGAN

A THREE month stay in Marlborough soon turned into an indefinite one for United States national Allison Hassler, after Covid-19 hit New Zealand shores.

Vintage 2020 wasn’t her first in the region, but was meant to be just another of many she was working on all over the world. Allison landed a job with Cloudy Bay for 2020, and harvest was already underway when news that the pandemic had reached New Zealand came out. “All of our managers and those higher up came together and came up with a plan and so we had to move out of the placeswhere we were living and they set up accommodation for us in our own bubbles and in our winery teams,” she says. “After that we continued working as normal, with the exception of compulsory masks and distancing, and it was a good harvest.”

Allison was one of many international workers in Marlborough and throughout the country who had a quick change of course following the pandemic. Extending her stay indefinitely has meant exploring another facet of the wine industry - viticulture.

She, along with around five other international workers, was able to stay on board with Cloudy Bay, working in the vineyard between harvests, at which point they returned to the winery to work as cellar hands. “Cloudy Bay really stands out as being an amazing company that I was lucky to be paired with. They just maintained total help along the way; made sure we had accommodation and jobs. I think over a six week period we were working two days a week rather than the whole week, but that was the worst it got,” she says. “It’s been cool to be able to see another side of the winemaking journey. It’s been a great opportunity to round out my CV and my experience.”

Originally from Oklahoma, the wine industry was not one Allison really delved into until she visited New Zealand and took on her first harvest at Nautilus Estate in 2015.

Working as a cellar hand, a job she was not previously familiar with, she soon fell for the buzz of working with

people from all over the world and picking up a career that enabled her to travel. “Once I learned about [the industry] I was pretty hooked,” she says.

Following that first harvest, she returned home to America and took on a vintage in Oregon, during which she met her partner. The pair have since travelled and worked together, visiting Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for harvests, and now remain together in Marlborough.

Despite not having been home for four years, Allison is trying to make the most of the opportunities she’s had by obtaining the one-off New Zealand Resident Visa offered to international workers following the outbreak of Covid-19. She is thankful for the way the New Zealand Government has handled the pandemic, after hearing first-hand from family in the States how scary the virus can be.

“My partner and I are doing that, and most of the people at Cloudy Bay in my position are taking advantage of that,” Allison says. “I would like to go home with the intention of coming back, but for now all I can do is try my best to stay positive and know that I have ended up in one of the best places to be in the world.”