EIT Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine Science student, Katelyn Church, EIT CEO Lucy Laitinen and NZME Breakfast Broadcaster Adam Green.
There’s been plenty worth raising a glass to in Viticulture and Wine Science at EIT. The school has recently hosted the judging of the country’s oldest regional wine competition, put its own research in front of an international audience of Chardonnay specialists, and watched a former scholarship winner take a seat at the judging table.
For more than 20 years, EIT has been training the people who grow, make and judge Hawke’s Bay wine, and that steady supply of homegrown talent is part of what earned Hawke’s Bay its place among the Great Wine Capitals of the World. The region joined the network in 2023 after an assessment that weighed not only its wine industry and history, but its wine tourism, business and education opportunities. From 18 to 22 October, Hawke’s Bay hosts the network’s international conference and AGM, with more than 150 delegates from member cities including Bordeaux, Porto and San Francisco/Napa Valley.
For EIT Chief Executive Lucy Laitinen, it’s that education piece that ties EIT so closely to the region’s international standing.
“When a region is measured against the great wine capitals of the world, it’s not only the vineyards that count, but also the people behind them. Many of the winemakers and viticulturists working across Hawke’s Bay today trained here at EIT, and our students learn alongside some of the best in the industry, often at the very wineries where they go on to build their careers. That relationship has been more than 20 years in the making, and you see it at its best every September, when the Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards judging comes to our campus and our students are in the room with the region’s top winemakers,” says Lucy.
This year, on 15 and 16 September, EIT’s winery and science laboratories on the Hawke’s Bay campus in Taradale were handed over to the judging of the Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards. Run by the Hawke’s Bay A&P Society, it is the oldest regional wine competition in the country, and EIT has been part of it for decades, as a sponsor, venue, and the hands behind the glasses.
Tim Creagh, EIT’s Viticulture and Wine Science Programme Coordinator and lecturer, has coordinated the judging for years and sits on the Wine Awards committee alongside winemakers from Sacred Hill, Clearview Estate, Church Road and Easthope Family Winegrowers.
School of Viticulture and Wine Science staff and students act as stewards for the judging – sorting, pouring and presenting every wine so the panels taste completely blind, knowing only the vintage and that the wine is from Hawke’s Bay, a hands-on experience Tim thinks is vital to their education.
“EIT has been involved with the Hawke’s Bay A&P Wine Awards since 2001, and it’s great to see our students playing such an important role. They do the hard work behind the scenes, checking and preparing the wines, working with the judging panels and making sure everything runs smoothly”, says Tim.
Full circle for Young Vintner Scholarship winner Ngaun Siau
Recent graduate Ngaun Siau at EIT’s Hawke’s Bay Taradale Campus vineyard
Among the associate judges was a familiar face. Recent graduate Ngaun Siau returned to EIT’s judging room a year on from the 2025 Bayleys Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards, where she was named the Craggy Range Young Vintner Scholarship recipient and her Penrose Cabernet Franc 2025 took the EIT Best Student Wine award. In the months since, she has completed her vintage placement at Craggy Range, and the associate judging role is the final piece of the scholarship – one Ngaun considers an honour.
“I got to work with some great people across multiple industries, sommeliers, marketers, winemakers, so it was great to hear all the different perspectives and be immersed in the environment.”
And while her passion may be creating reds, it was the whites that really stood out in the judging. “Albariño, pinot gris, I tasted some really delicious wines that I would go out and buy.”
Her vintage placement allowed her to follow her passion for pinot noir at Craggy Range, one of New Zealand’s most respected pinot producers.
“It was great to work with a famous winery, to make their pinot and really get involved in the whole process. I consider myself lucky to be part of the 2026 harvest team.”
Judging wrapped up with a sponsor and industry tasting at EIT.
EIT research on the Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium programme
A day later, the conversation moved to Toitoi, Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre in Hastings, for the third Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium on 17 and 18 September. This year’s symposium took on quality: the features of whenua, climate and philosophy that make premium Chardonnay possible, and how the country can produce it consistently.
EIT Senior Lecturer and Researcher Dr Chandré Honeth opened the symposium’s second session, “Leaf Cover vs Quality,” presenting results and applications from Chardonnay research carried out by EIT and the Bragato Research Institute, before joining a tasting and discussion panel with BRI’s Braden Crosby and Ryan Fraser from Paritua, chaired by Stephen Wong MW.
Chandré was thrilled to present at the Chardonnay Symposium and share research that speaks to some of the industry’s most relevant challenges.
“We’re glad EIT can play a part in this, and it’s important to us that our research remains practical and applicable. We’ve had great support from the BRI and Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers and maintaining these relationships is key to keeping our research directly relevant. The research we do also feeds straight back into our teaching and our degree students go even further, each completing a small research project in collaboration with an industry partner.”
Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards
The run finished at the Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards event on 1 October, where the Craggy Range Young Vitner Scholarship was awarded to Autumn Parker and Lucy Laitinen presented the Best Student Wine Award to 3rd year Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine Science student, Katelyn Church for her Albariño wine. Assistant Head of School Primary Industries, Viticulture and Wine Science Lisa Turnbull, says the selection committee was most impressed by the scholarships recipient’s passion for the industry and their clear vision for the future.
“Autumn embraced both the academic and practical aspects of their studies and demonstrated the qualities that employers are looking for in the next generation of wine professionals. This scholarship helps bridge the gap between study and industry, giving students opportunities that can help shape the direction of their careers.”
Growing the next vintage of winemakers
EIT has been training people for the wine and viticulture industry for more than twenty years and offers the widest range of viticulture and wine qualifications in New Zealand, on campus and by distance. Students learn in a teaching and research winery, a sensory laboratory, and an instrument laboratory with advanced analytical equipment, with a demonstration vineyard next door and glasshouses on site.
The three-year Bachelor of Viticulture and Wine Science focuses on practical work every year of the degree: vineyard work experience, a commercial vintage, and a research project run alongside the industry. The programme was built with an industry liaison group of wineries, growers and graduates and has produced some outstanding winemakers.
Then there’s the location. Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s oldest and most diverse wine region, with more than 200 vineyards, over 70 wineries and 38 grape varieties in the ground, all within easy reach of EIT’s Taradale campus. For students, learning doesn’t stop at the campus gate. The region is their training ground, and its wineries are where graduates like Ngaun go on to make their mark.