By Callum Ludwig
It was all action in the vineyard at Upper Yarra Secondary College on Friday 17 March, with the call coming through the night before that it was time for harvest.
The pinot noir grapes were quickly picked and will be sent for use to Oakridge Wines through a school connection with Dan Murphys, where students will have the chance to view the fermentation process of the school’s own work.
Innovation Specialist and VET teacher Marcus Cook said the school had a really good harvest this year.
“We’ve had high rainfall and temperate summer, which is what pinot seems to like. Compared to last year, we harvested about two and a half tonnes, and today we’re hoping to harvest four and a half,” he said.
“We’ve had students last year do all the pruning for the following year and the new students do all the preparation for the grapes, removing bird-affected and diseased fruit and making sure that the grapes that we end up picking are the best quality that we can have.”
Each year the grapes are grown by students completing the VET Certificate Two in Wine Industry Operations in Year 10, with their harvest then becoming the foundation for the learning of the following year’s class.
Year 10 student Tyler, who also works on the vineyard at the ‘thousand candles’ farm in Gruyere, said he loves the final harvest.
“It’s really good to help show us what the Yarra Valley really does because the Yarra Valley does most of the wine here in Victoria. I absolutely love it and want to keep going in the field,” he said.
“I know Upper Yarra is in the only cluster [of schools] that does this, and it’s something that students might be interested in, and then that it really does help when we’re working together and to find new bunches.”
This year’s cohort also had an experienced head in their midst in year 10 student Austin, whose family run Rayners Orchard in Woori Yallock. Austin is accredited to operate the tractor, so was able to help shift the crates of grapes ready for distribution.
Year 11 student Rylan came down and lent a hand and said he’s found it very fun over the last month going up and down the rows pruning and enjoying some music while they work.
“The first week we cut off dead branches and leaves because the sun wouldn’t be able to penetrate the grapes and then cut off secondary branches, which are green groups of grapes that are too small to be a good yield,” he said.
“I’ve learnt how to identify a lot of the grapes and how they taste and how to take care of a vine, I’ve always wanted to learn to do that because my dad grows hops. I don’t know if I want to do it for sure yet, but there are a lot of people looking for viticulturists and will think about it.”
Rylan’s dad will also be receiving a portion of the grapes to experiment with at home and try to make wine from, which Rylan is keen to help out with.
