Tonnellerie de Mercury NZ Young Winemaker of the Year, Emily Gaspard-Clark very nearly didn’t enter this year’s Marlborough regional young winemaker competition.

The picture-perfect setting of Rippon on the shores of Lake Wanaka looking out to Ruby Island has a fairy-tale quality.

It is quite an achievement for anyone to say they have been in the same job for 40 years and are still going strong. Paul Mooney, chief winemaker at Mission Estate is one of those very few.

When scientists Marilyn Duxson and John Harris purchased a small section near Wanaka almost 20 years ago, they planned to build a ski holiday house to spend weekends away from Dunedin.

The wine industry was never Stuart Dudley’s first career choice. The viticulturist for Villa Maria Wines in Marlborough had his mindset on research or forensics, having completed a degree in Genetics and Biochemistry.

Master of Wine Margaret Harvey may not be so well known amongst younger wine industry members. But ask any one of the pioneers of the 80s and 90s about her, and you are bound to hear glowing reviews.

Ask Jane Cooper who her most influential mentor is and two words spring to mind: Mother Nature.

There is no need to introduce Dr Mike Trought when he appears as a speaker at a wine conference.

The UK’s Ronan Sayburn MS on his experience with the New Zealand Scholarship known simply as Sommit™.

Soil scientist Keith Vincent spent 10 years spent mapping soils in the burgeoning New Zealand wine scene.