Good news!

Hi all

Just a quick message from Blenheim this time after a very successful week at the NMIT (Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology). First of all on Wednesday we went on a field trip to one of the wineries where they just started up the vintage for their sparkling wines. We have been on this winery all day and doing things like emptying grates with grapes, cleaning grates, cleaning presses and listening to explanations of the whole process from grape receival to wine. Of course the best part of this day was the wine tasting itself. We tasted their first and second tier products and got to recognise the differences.

The next day we went on a tour on a vineyard that is owned by a French family. It was very interesting to see the compromises that are made here between the French and NZ philosophy of grape growing and wine making.

But the highlight of this week was that I have won a scholarship for part of my fees this year!! A few weeks ago I applied for this on basis of my particular situation here and my interest in the biodynamic way of grapegrowing. My ideas were good enough to grant me the scholarship and in a few weeks time there will be an official presentation of this. Of course I have to do some work for it as well. I will have to write progress reports and publications for a magazine. To me it is only an extra bonus! And hopefully after Easter I can start working on a biodynamic vineyard, so I can start learning more about this way of doing things. The biodynamics are not teached at the Institute, but I become more and more convinced of the fact that this is the way of the future (and should have been of the past!).

Sorry, this is a short message, but I am so excited and wanted to share it!!

Have a great weekend,
Anita