Generation Y-ine

At home in Marlborough’s wine industry

KAT PICKFORD

DESPITE GROWING up surrounded by vineyards in the Napa Valley, Ashley Stace vowed she would never take her father’s advice and work in the wine industry. Instead, she went to university and studied for a degree in kinesiology, in pursuit of a career in physical therapy. It wasn’t until she was a few weeks into an internship, shadowing a physical therapist, that she realised it wasn’t for her.

“Dad had worked in the wine industry on the production side for 25 years and was always trying to get me into it too,” Ashley says. “I was like ‘dad what are you thinking, there’s no way I’m going to do what you’re doing’,” she laughs. “But after graduation, I picked up a job as a lab assistant at Simi Wines for vintage, so lots of ferment rounds and barrels. It was a pretty cool introduction to the industry - not that I told dad that right away.”

Having wet her feet in the industry, Ashley was invited to stay on at Simi, before finding a full-time position at Rodney Strong Vineyards in neighbouring Sonoma. Finding herself further immersed in wine, she decided she might as well dive right in and take some night classes in viticulture and wine business and technology at Napa Community College “While working with the winemaker at Rodney Strong, people started talking about travelling as a winemaker and how the job can take you almost anywhere,” she says. “New Zealand popped up as a possibility, so I applied for a work visa and next thing I was heading to New Zealand.”

Her first vintage in New Zealand was with Kim Crawford Wines in 2017, where she met a Kiwi bloke and fell in love with Marlborough. “I loved it, it reminded me of the Sonoma Coast and I felt very at home here early on - of course the boy helped with that,” she smiles.

For the next few years, she split her time between Napa and Marlborough, gaining as much experience as she could in the wine industry, always working towards winemaking roles.

After successfully applying for the role of assistant winemaker at Spy Valley in 2021, she feels like she has “cracked” her goal and is right where she wants to be. “I love working in a small to medium vertically integrated winery, every day is different. I get to be very hands on and everything from the vines to the glass is basically under one roof.”

Having previously worked for teams as the youngest, or only female, working at Spy Valley which has an even gender ratio is “refreshing”, she says. “Spy has a reputation for being a friendly place for women to work - that’s one of the reasons why I jumped at the opportunity to work here.”

Six years after her first vintage in Marlborough, Ashley has married “the boy” and is looking forward to seeing where the wine industry leads her next. “Marlborough made a name for itself with Sauvignon Blanc and I’m constantly amazed by the variety of styles and expressions it can have,” she says. “There really is a Sauvignon Blanc for everyone and I’m fascinated to see where it goes next.”