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Gillian Wilson - Viticulturist
Following on from a career in horticulture and landscape architecture, Gillian took the opportunity to pursue a long term interest in wine and retrained in viticulture in 1993 at Lincoln University.
After completing a Masters degree with a research programme that investigated flower development and fruit set in grapevines, Gillian completed six years of viticulture management with vineyards in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.
The opportunity to manage vineyards in Central Otago represented another milestone in Gillian's career. As part of the Akarua team, Gillian combines her passion for the land with that for growing premium quality wine.
In the middle of summer, Gillian may be managing upwards of thirty vineyard workers as most of the vineyard practices, critical to quality at Akarua, are carried out by hand. These include: leaf plucking to expose bunches to sunlight, dropping crop to ensure the vine is physiologically balanced and of course hand harvesting, all of which are carried out with the gentlest care by Gillian's vineyard team.
Gillian believes in using sustainable viticulture management practices that work with the environment to allow the resulting wines to express those unique qualities inherent in every vineyard site. She believes that a great vineyard site combined with excellent viticulture practices and empathetic winemaking will produce wines that truly represent the Central Otago winegrowing region.