Ben Fulton's winemaking ambitions boosted

Ben_Fulton_vintner.JPG: A "stoked" Ben Fulton with his Young Vintner of the Year scholarship award. Photo/Supplied

A few of years after leaving St John's College in Hastings with no clear target of what to pursue in the workplace, Ben Fulton began to experience the lure of the grape.

"It sort of came out of nowhere really," Fulton said as he recalled beginning to delve into the world of winemaking and viticulture, while most of the family were more into the world of computing.

He has come a long way over the past five years and the now 27-year-old is set to take another big step in the world of wine after picking up the A&P Young Vintners Scholarship award at the recent 2019 Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards.

"Pretty stoked," was how he summed up the news.

The scholarship will see his EIT fees paid for 2020 as well as giving him the experience of working with the next vintage at Craggy Range from next February.

Fulton said he heard about EIT's grape growing and winemaking certificates and decided that was the way to go, and took it a stage further in 2016 when he embarked upon the intensive Viticulture and Wine Science Concurrent Degree which he has one more year to wrap it up.

Over the past five years he had also been getting some winemaking front-line education through doing weekend work with Villa Maria.

"Mainly cellar door work and they have really supported me," he said.

He learned of styles and tastes and development of wines — so it was studying during the week and working the weekends at Villa Maria.

"Tasting wines through the day... not too bad," he said with a smile.

The decision to have a shot at the scholarship came through being approached by one of the lecturers at EIT and encouraged to "fill in the paperwork" which he did, and submitted.

He said while never over confident he felt pretty good about it as he had worked and studied hard and his lecturers had been supportive.

Getting the nod has added his name to other highly acclaimed EIT students who have sparked in the world of wine, like Church Road Winery's Chris Scott and Villa Maria's Nick Picone.

And like them, he has his winemaking heart in Hawke's Bay.

The plan is to complete the degree then look at working at some overseas wineries which have strong old world wine touches, then return home with increased knowledge and skills and put them to work here in the Bay.

"Definitely back here — I love Hawke's Bay."

So then, was there a variety preference... reds or whites?

No pauses there — he immediately said "both".