Women in Wine: Emma Taylor

“The friendliness of the industry was a huge drawcard,” says the consultant viticulturist, Deputy Chair of New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW), Director of Bragato Research Institute and 2024 Fellow of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers, 25 years after she started at Villa Maria as a cadet.

Emma’s stellar career was seeded, in part, with a Sunday evening of TV. “When I finished my bachelor’s degree, and knowing that I quite liked wine, I watched an episode of Country Calendar on organic viticulture,” she says. “I suggested to my university professor that I wanted to understand the difference between organic vineyard soils and non-organic vineyard soils.” He suggested a more specific topic, leading to her Master of Science in Physical Geography at the University of Otago, researching copper accumulation in vineyard soils. That saw her travel around the country collecting soil samples for her thesis, “meeting vineyard owners, who were open and friendly at every vineyard I visited”.

The research gave her an in-depth understanding of how copper swiftly becomes locked up in soil, and cemented her desire to work with wine. But on graduation, Emma missed out on a job as a research viticulturist with Villa Maria and instead accepted a role as a climate consultant in Otago. She then set off for a holiday in Australia “to celebrate finishing five years of university”.

When she arrived back in New Zealand two weeks later, Emma was offered a sixmonth role as a technical viticulturist for Villa Maria, based in Hawke’s Bay, followed by a 12-month cadetship, which included visits to other wine regions to observe vineyard differences around the country. “I also spent six weeks racking barrels at the Auckland winery, and time in the nursery learning how vines are grafted. I spent a few weeks in sales, which gave me a great understanding of where everything fits.”

The company’s founder, Sir George Fistonich, is known for his ability to pick talented viticulturists, winemakers and wine marketers, and Emma counts herself fortunate to be among them. “I was so impressed with George and his team when I first met them.”

After 12 months broadening her knowledge, Emma became Villa Maria’s Research Viticulturist, spending the next two years learning through a period of massive industry growth and limited resourcing. “In one season I think I counted the bunches of every single vineyard,” she says, grateful for the deep exposure to myriad growing practices, learning a huge amount in the process.

In the winter of 2003, she and her husband Chris moved to London, but by spring Sir George had convinced her to return (eventually) to become National Viticulturist for the company. “I was excited and honoured to be considered for the role as it was a great opportunity, but the pull to continue our travels was strong,” she says. “In the end Sir George agreed to hold the role open for me for 12 months… so long as I came back to New Zealand for 10 weeks for the 2004 harvest. I have always been very appreciative for that opportunity.”

She and Chris returned to Hawke’s Bay in September 2024, and Emma was amazed by the rapid pace of change in the industry. “Even though I was only away a relatively brief period of time, the evolution in how things were done in both vineyard and winery was staggering.”

The new role involved significant national and international travel, with about six weeks a year spent out of the country, travelling to wine markets around the world, gaining insights into the global wine industry.

In 2007, while on maternity leave with her first child, Emma won Hawke’s Bay Young Viticulturist of the Year, and then the national final, before going on to add Young Horticulturist of the Year to her awards tally. She recalls being unsure whether she could take on the first regional competition, given she had a four-month-old baby, but the Hawke’s Bay organising team “arranged the timings around my breast-feeding schedule”.

Emma didn’t want to work fulltime while raising her children, but she did want to stay in touch with industry momentum and knowledge, knowing well how quickly things had progressed while she was abroad. So, she volunteered on several fronts, including as National Coordinator of the Young Viticulturist of the Year, a member of the Research Committee of NZW, and on the Focus Vineyard committee of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Association. “I love working with different people to find solutions,” she says. “That’s what I love about governance… Everyone brings a different perspective and together you can find solutions.”

Emma Taylor with Babich viticulturist David Bullivant at the Cat Creek development in Marlborough. Photo Credit: Lisa Duncan Photography.

Meanwhile, she continued to work part time with Villa Maria, first as Viticulture Project Manager, then General Manager of the company’s grapevine nursery – Vineyard Plants – wanting a role that didn’t require a lot of travel or relentless vintage hours, as she and Chris expanded their family to three daughters.

Emma became Chair of the New Zealand Viticulture Industry Nursery Association, which was working at that time to develop vine health standards for trunk disease prevention in the Grafted Grapevine Standard. Again, she was surrounded by people eager to grow knowledge and find “pragmatic solutions” for enhanced vineyard health.

She also worked on the NZW research committee, at a time when big research programmes were being undertaken, including the virus elimination project and the Vineyard Longevity trunk disease project.

In 2020, two decades after she became a cadet, Emma ended her long tenure with Villa Maria, established Emma Taylor Viti, and joined the NZW Board, “right in the middle of Covid”. With the pandemic lockdowns, most of the initial meetings were on zoom rather than in-person, says Emma, who was voted back on in late 2024 and is now Deputy Chair.

Meanwhile, she is Viticulture Business Manager for Craigmore Sustainables, which has developed major vineyard holdings in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, and last year started work on a 418-hectare property on Marlborough’s Northbank, which will have nearly 200ha of grapes when fully developed.

It’s right in her wheelhouse – working with three different wine companies and three different vineyard teams, in three different provinces, says Emma, after a day spent with Babich Viticulturist David Bullivant at the Cat Creek development in Marlborough. “You can surround yourself with great people in this industry, and I love that side of things. The more I can work with people or different organisations the better, because then you learn more.”

The New Zealand wine industry’s appetite for cooperation and shared knowledge is why it is full of “fast adopters”, Emma says. “Everyone works together with advancements; everyone is keen to adopt new practices.”

Asked if she ever needs to have a break from the industry, she smiles. “Why would anyone need to get away from wine?”