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Sarah Rowley Adams and Josh Rowley
Trading in the city for wine country KAT DUGGAN
THE “GROUNDHOG DAY” experience of working through Level-4 lockdown last year led Josh Rowley and Sarah Rowley Adams to rethink and reshape their lives. Fast forward a year, and the couple have moved from Auckland to Blenheim and Josh has traded in a brewing career for winemaking instead. “I saw the [Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Cellar-Ops] course pop up online and I thought ‘this would be a cool thing to try’, since we couldn’t go overseas or do anything,” says Sarah, who is communications and digital advisor for New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW). “There was an NZW office down here so it was a safe move for me, and Josh was quite keen to try winemaking.” The six-month programme is an introductory course into cellar operations, which requires students to undertake a vintage within a winery. Over harvest, Josh worked the night shift at Pernod Ricard Winemakers, enabling him to fully grasp the differences between brewing beer and making wine. “It’s very different to working in a brewery; going from a small brewery to a large winery especially, but the nature of the beast is entirely different,” Josh says. “You only get the chance to make the wine once a year, whereas in a brewery brewing can be 24/7.” The couple both worked through the four-week Level-4 lockdown in March 2020, as essential workers. “Our lives weren’t that different in lockdown compared to our normal lives,” says Josh. “It was sort of like groundhog day; we
“I learn a lot about what is happening in the vineyards which I think has only helped with my marketing.” Sarah Rowley Adams would get up, go to work, get home. While everyone was loving their lockdown lives we were under the pump and we were still not going out and enjoying what Auckland had to offer, it was just sleep, work, repeat.” Since making the shift to Blenheim, Josh has been enjoying the social aspect of working in a winery, which differs from the more solitary nature of working as a brewer. “Brewing definitely involves teamwork, but the daily run of tasks or operating a small brewhouse can be quite an individualist task. With a large winery, it’s a much bigger team and we often work in pairs to complete tasks,” he says. Despite admitting to missing the comforts of the brewery during cold wet nights working outside at the winery, Josh is excited about the opportunities the wine industry has to offer, and has begun a full-time role at Marisco Winery. “Ultimately I don’t see myself returning to beer any time soon.”
Collective Expertise. Vineyard management, operations, technical support, and solutions for grape growers and wine companies that want improved quality and returns. vitmanagement.co.nz
Stuart Dudley 021 316 291
22 / Winepress July 2021
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