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Generation Y-ine Taking it step by step in the wine industry KAT DUGGAN
FROM FREEZING worker and farmer to petrol station attendant, Cara Hayes explored a few different career paths before finding the wine industry. The Constellation Brands New Zealand viticulture technician has also made short work of moving up the ranks within the company, since joining it in 2018. Her journey with Constellation Brands began at their Riverlands Winery, with a six month cadetship. This led to time spent working in one of their vineyards, Awarua, where she quickly realised she would like to remain. “I’ve always liked the outdoors,” Cara says. Following her cadetship, Cara took a full-time role as a vineyard operator with the company and has most recently earned the role of viticulture technician at Constellation Brands’ Brooklands Vineyard in central Wairau Valley. She took the role in December 2019, and alongside her work has also begun studying towards a Bachelor of Viticulture and Winemaking at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT). Cara has come a long way in the wine industry in two short years, before which she was working at the Z petrol station on Blenheim’s busy Grove Rd. “I used to see people coming in in their Constellation gear and I talked to a few people about it,”
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she says. “One of them sent me some information about the cadetship, so that set me on the right path of where to apply.” Born and raised in Milton, South Otago, the majority of Cara’s working life was outside, prior to her role at Z. She spent five years working in the sheep yards at the town’s freezing works, and in the off-season worked on dairy and sheep farms. It didn’t take long living in New Zealand’s wine capital for a career in the wine industry to become a no-brainer. “With vineyards and wineries everywhere, I thought I may as well give it a go and see what it’s all about,” Cara says. She is grateful for the encouragement she received to join Constellation Brands, as well as for the ongoing support since she began work at the company. “There’s a lot of supportive people and a lot of opportunities at Constellation,” she says. Last year, Cara took part in New Zealand Wine’s Women in Wine mentoring programme as a mentee, and says it provided great insight into the industry, one she sees as being a fantastic choice for young women to consider. It was through the Women in Wine programme that Cara gained the confidence she needed to take on the three-year
