Lumen Waite 100 - Flipbook - Page 19
“It is a very internationally renowned program,”
Delphine says. “My family was always interested in wine,
and we went to a lot of wineries across Europe. Previously, I
studied Bioscience Engineering (at the Catholic University
of Leuven, Belgium), and when I told my parents about this
program in Australia they said, ‘go for it’.”
It’s all hands-on deck, from gathering samples for
analysis with Associate Lecturer and Vineyard Manager
Benjamin Pike and Associate Professor Cassandra Collins,
to winemaking duties.
“We help each other out,” Delphine says. “Our group of
four has a Clare Valley Riesling which comes into the winery,
and we’re also doing a red, a Bordeaux blend of five varieties.”
Meanwhile, Dutch student Jip van Es has been in
Australia for five years, working as a cellar hand at
wineries, including Bellwether Wines on South Australia’s
Limestone Coast.
“I’ve worked in the wine industry across different regions
and didn’t want to be a cellar hand for the rest of my life,”
she says. “I was very interested in the chemistry behind
winemaking, and this is great because we’re learning every
aspect of the process.”
They don’t all have lofty career aspirations. Local
Adelaide student David Sleath is here to explore a
new chapter.
“This is a later in life, career change for me,” he says.
“I wanted to do something different to occupy a few years
until retirement. I had two previous careers and thought
I had one more in me. Something more fun this time.
It’s a great group of people; they are a really committed,
approachable, and friendly group. It’s a lovely environment
to learn in.”
Professor of Oenology Kerry Wilkinson loves the
diversity of students.
“Even at the post-grad level, we’ll have a mix of people
who’ve worked in the wine industry for a long time but
don’t have a formal qualification, so they’ve decided that
they want to get that qualification,” Kerry says. “It can be
quite diverse, so we try to cater to those needs and also
provide additional resources to support students who are
starting from a lower level and need a bit more help.”
Kerry says a “scaffold” approach to learning is important.
Students spend their first year or two learning basic grape
analysis, variety identification, microbiology, sensory
science, biochemistry, and viticulture before they hit the
winery and complete a vintage. Once they reach that stage,
Bauer is a fan of highlighting the “art” of the process.
“You can’t just be a scientist and use that lens, you have
to be able to use winemaking as an expression of yourself,”
she says. “Other schools have technology that allows
students to program pump-overs and temperatures. Soon,
there will be ‘electronic noses’ that detect things for you,
and that’s great on some level, but if you don’t know what
you’re looking for, how are you ever going to be able to
calibrate that?
“We are incredibly hands on and that’s a legacy of the
Roseworthy program. I think that’s what differentiates our
program from anywhere else in the world – the fact that
we effectively give students two tonnes of fruit with which
to make wine, and with no commercial realities to hold
them back.”
At the end of the process, students hopefully have a wine
to purchase and proudly share with friends and family.
“It’s a reason to work harder,” Jill says. “They also have to
present it to everyone and discuss what went well and what
didn’t go so well. We try to keep ourselves out of the process
as much as possible, to let them make decisions.”
Jill believes strongly in embracing a growth mindset.
“Failures are okay in the learning process, because if
you make a mistake, you’re going to learn how to fix it,”
she says. “Students who make seemingly fatal errors with
their wine are going to learn the most. You’re never going
to forget that error and when you go into a commercial
setting, you’re going to understand how to fix it.”
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