Young Hawke's Bay winemaker's tenacity lifts him to North Island title

Douw Grobler from Trinity Hill is announced the North Island 2022 Young Winemaker of the Year. Photo / Supplied

The hard work of Douw Grobler from Trinity Hill in Hawke's Bay is, in his own words, finally paying off.

Grobler became the 2022 Tonnellerie de Mercurey North Island Young Winemaker of the Year at the event at EIT recently.

He has competed previously in both the Young Winemaker and Young Vit competitions, and he's spent the year upskilling and stretching himself.

Nicky Grandorge, Leadership and Communities Manager at New Zealand Winegrowers, said he'd shown tenacity to pull off the win.

"Douw very much deserves the win and his passion for furthering his career and contributing to our industry is very strong".

Tom Crosier from Craggy Range came second and Jordan Robinson from Sacred Hill came third.

The regional competition is open to emerging young winemakers under 30 years old from all around the North Island. This year contestants were from Auckland and Hawke's Bay.

The other contestants were Jordyn Harper from Smith & Sheth in Hawke's Bay, along with Gracie-Rose Kay from Coopers Creek and Ashish Thakur from Villa Maria, both from Auckland.

All six contestants walked away with prizes, having each come top in one of the various sections.

The aspiring Young Winemakers were tested on many aspects of wine production. This included a cellar challenge, laboratory tests, blending, fault finding, blind tasting, marketing, wine knowledge and wine tasting.

They also debated a supplied speech topic at the Awards Dinner held at The Cheval Room in Hastings. This year's topics included the future of wine writers, protecting and promoting NZ sparkling wine, and whether it is time to legally define natural wine.

Douw was awarded $1000, an educational trip sponsored by Fruitfed Supplies, as well as a Dale Carnegie Leadership Course.

He now goes through to the National Final on February 3 at Kim Crawford Winery in Marlborough.

Tom Crosier will also head to Marlborough for an educational trip.