Ruby McManaway from Yealands becomes the 2025 Marlborough Young Winemaker
Ruby McManaway from Yealands becomes the 2025 Marlborough Young WinemakerPRESS RELEASE: NZ WINE
Congratulations to Ruby McManaway from Yealands, who was announced as the 2025 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Marlborough Young Winemaker of the Year following the competition held on 16 July at Marlborough Research Centre and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology campus in Blenheim.
“I’m so excited to represent Marlborough at the nationals”, she says. Having competed a couple of times previously, Ruby was determined to take out the win and put in the hard yards in the build-up to the competition.
Congratulations also go to Lan Zhang from Vinarchy, who came second and Katasha Pearce from Spring Creek Vintners, who came third.
They all performed extremely well, winning most of the sections between them. This included Ruby taking out the Indevin Wine Judging Section and the Constellation Brands Laboratory Section; Lan winning the Fruitfed Supplies Best Speech, and Katasha coming top in the Blending and In-Market section.
Ten contestants were competing in the Marlborough competition this year, making it stiff competition and an exciting day. The other contestants were Michael Hix, Yealands; Nick Lamain, Isabel Estate; Ellie Hobbs, Vavasour; Facundo Tagua, Whitehaven; Shuang Tong, Spring Creek Vintners; Swapnil Yadav, Constellation Brands and Xingyue (Ave) Zhou, Vinarchy.
“It’s fantastic to see so many talented Young Winemakers wanting to put themselves out there, test their skills and progress their careers”, said Nicky Grandorge, Leadership & Communities Manager at New Zealand Winegrowers. “It’s also wonderful to see three young women take out the top spots, highlighting that winemaking is an exciting career for everyone.”
It was a tough day as the Young Winemakers undertook various challenges, reflecting the role of a winemaker. This included wine judging, fault finding, a cellar challenge, general wine-making knowledge, and undertaking an interview. The biggest challenge was to create a Sauvignon Blanc blend and present it to a panel of judges acting as US buyers.
At lunch time, they competed in the Vin Olympics, taken out by Facundo Tagua. This was followed by a delicious Fruitfed Supplies BBQ. Finally, they gave their speeches to the large wine industry audience at the Awards Dinner.
Ruby won a Fruitfed Supplies Field Trip and $1,000 in cash. Lan won $750, and Katasha won $500.
Ruby will compete in the National Final at Lincoln University on 26 August. The national finalists will then deliver their speeches at the New Zealand Wine 2025 - Celebration Dinner at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre on 28 August, when the overall winner will also be announced.
The finalists will compete not only for the prestigious title of the 2025 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year, but also for an amazing prize package which includes a visit to the Tonnellerie de Mercurey (cooperage) in Burgundy, being an associate judge in the New World Wine Awards, and reviewing wines in DrinksBiz magazine. There is also the opportunity for the finalists to win prizes for the Constellation Laboratory Section, the Indevin Wine Judging Section, and the best Fruitfed Supplies Speech.
The competition is made possible thanks to all the generous sponsors: Tonnellerie de Mercurey, Fruitfed Supplies, Constellation Brands, Indevin, FMG, Lab Supply, Laffort, Tira Crown, Visy, Winejobsonline, New World, New Zealand Society for Viticulture & Oenology, and Pacific Rim Oenology.
Thank you to our Regional Sponsors: Cloudy Bay Vineyards, BDO Marlborough, Accessman Blenheim, Gascoigne Wicks, Forklift Hire Services, Hooked on Engineering, Matua and Boyd Wilson
