EIT pick of the crop for study

Jason McCluskey in the barrel hall at Te Awa.

Te Awa cellar supervisor Jason McCluskey could have studied towards a winemaking qualification at just about any leading institution in the world. After considering his options, the American chose the Graduate Diploma in Oenology offered at EIT.

Graduating this year, Jason says his class was very international. The cohort included Indians, English and Chinese as well as one New Zealander.

Born and raised in Arizona, the 31-year-old joined the US Air Force straight out of school. He was taught Arabic in the services and worked as a linguist.

He decided, however, that he wanted a more lifestyle-oriented job and in 2008 secured a vintage position in his home state. Relatively new plantings of Rhone varieties grow at 1200-1400 metres above sea level in Arizona, he says - "the elevation helps counter the heat but they have to irrigate".

After harvest, he was keen to travel and headed to New Zealand where he worked for Delegat's in Blenheim before returning to the US. In Oregon, a well-recognised wine producing state, he worked for a winery making Pinot Noir.

Continuing the travelling lifestyle, he returned to the southern hemisphere in 2010, working for Mitchelton Estate in central Victoria. Then after a further vintage in Arizona, he spent the next six years in the wine industry in Oregon.

What was missing, he says, was the formal qualification.

"I was going to night school but completing the programme was going to take another six to eight years. I had enough saved to take a year off work for an intensive study programme and, with my industry experience, I was accepted for EIT's graduate diploma."

Jason knew accomplished winemakers who had been educated in New Zealand and others who also spoke highly about study programmes here.

Attracted by this region's cool climate winemaking, he was also drawn to the Hawke's Bay lifestyle, the weather, the produce and the cool climate full-bodied varieties that are a speciality of this region.

"I love the Bordeaux-style and Syrah wines here and if there was one variety that I always wanted to work with when I was in Oregon it was Chardonnay."

Before launching into graduate diploma studies, Jason did as advised by School of Viticulture and Wine Science lecturers and completed summer bridging courses at EIT to give him a better grounding in the sciences associated with winemaking.

Just 10 days into the programme he was offered work at Te Awa.

"I feel good about gaining a Level 7 qualification," he says about completing his EIT studies. "There's definitely not anything holding me back any more. It's great to have that goal out of the way and I can progress my career from there.

"I enjoy practical work but my goal is to have creative input in the winemaking process. Expansion and growth are happening here," he says of work currently underway at Te Awa winery.