Generation Y-ine

From Mumbai to Marlborough with wine

KAT PICKFORD

AFTER AN aspiration to become an airforce pilot was grounded before taking flight, Priyanka Kulkarni turned to winemaking. In the years since, that journey that has taken her across continents and recently landed her a dream role in Marlborough.

Priyanka was born and raised in Mumbai, one of India’s bustling metropolises, where her childhood dreams revolved around serving her nation with an exciting career as an airforce pilot. However, disappointment struck when she couldn’t clear the required entry exams and medical tests. That was 2008, and at the time her sister, a journalist, was researching the emerging wine scene in India, which had taken off in 2000 in Nashik – a region known for growing table grapes, 200km south of Mumbai.

With no backup plan for her future, Priyanka joined her sister on a research trip to Nashik and visited a few wineries and the Gargi Agriculture Research and Training Institute. “One taste and I was hooked,” she says, having signed up for a three-year degree in winemaking on the spot.

“When India first started its winemaking journey it relied on consultants, mostly from California, to tell us what would do well. Naturally they thought of India as a hot climate like California, so to begin with there were similar varieties such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.”

After graduating, Priyanka landed an assistant winemaking role at York Winery, which contracted some winemaking facilities to the world-renowned wine, spirits and luxury goods brand Moët Hennessy, when it first began producing its sparkling wine, Chandon, in India.

With more international winemakers converging on the winery, Priyanka soon realised the potential for travel and career growth within the global wine industry. “Working with winemakers from all around the world opened my eyes and showed me the opportunity to expand my skills and experience beyond India.”

It wasn’t long before she landed a two-year scholarship to study a Masters in Viticulture and Winemaking in France, and from there began jumping between the northern and southern hemispheres, doing two or three

vintages a year in Portugal, Austria, China, New Zealand, the United States and Germany. In 2019 Priyanka took on a winery technician role for Pernod Ricard in Marlborough, supervising planning and workflow between the winemaking and cellar team. Then in 2021 she moved to Indevin as an assistant winemaker and last year was promoted to winemaker.

Since joining Indevin, Priyanka has embraced being a part of a fast-growing wine business and all the responsibilities that come with her winemaking role, including oversight of the production of millions of litres of wine for one of their international clients, Gallo Wines. “There’s definitely more responsibility in this role, not just to create a consistent, top-quality product every year, but around compliance and regulations to ensure what we’re selling meets the market standards required in each of the countries we export to.”

After years of exploring many different winemaking regions around the world, the 33-year-old winemaker is happy to call New Zealand home – for now. “There’s something about New Zealand that drew me back. In vintage there’s such a vibe, people come from all around the world, there’s so much diversity here, which adds to the buildup and excitement,” Priyanka says. “No matter how good or bad vintage is, you still make loads of friends and have heaps of fun.”