The Santa Fe is appropriately ‘grenache’ coloured – one of the more unusual red grape varieties that Price nurtures on the Villa Maria vineyards where he works.

The vehicle was presented to him at the Bayswater Hyundai Dealership.  Hyundai has been sponsoring the Young Vit competition for the last three years and, in that time, the prestigious Bayer Young Viticulturist title has been taken out by a Hawke’s Bay finalist, a genuine hattrick for the region.  Paul Robinson also from Villa Maria won the competition in 2014 and Caleb Dennis from Craggy Range took it out in 2015.  It is becoming a familiar sight therefore to see a Young Vit branded Hyundai Santa Fe cruising around The Bay.

“Having full use of a Hyundai Santa Fe as part of the prize package really spurs on the contestants.  It is an amazing incentive and adds an extra buzz to the competition as the contestants all want to get behind the wheel of this fantastic car,”  says Nicky Grandorge, National Co-ordinator, Young Viticulturist of the Year competition.  “We are extremely grateful to Hyundai for their enthusiastic support of the competition and New Zealand’s future viticultural leaders”

Andy Sinclair, General Manager for Hyundai New Zealand added, “This is a fantastic competition for us to be involved with and we are delighted to support the up and coming viticultural leaders of New Zealand.  As a New Zealand owned company, we’re pleased to be supporting the Wine Industry as it’s one of New Zealand’s key export industries and this pro-active event ensures there will be talented young vits to help drive it successfully into the future.” 

The competition is run regionally in Hawke’s Bay, Auckland, Marlborough, Central Otago and Wairarapa during June and July with the winner from each region going through to the very challenging National Final held in August.  It is a highly regarded title and the contestants have worked extremely hard to achieve this award. They are tested on all aspects of vineyard management including practical and theoretical questions, as well as delivering a speech to wine industry leaders at an evening dinner. This includes everything involved in being a Vineyard Manager from soil nutrition and disease control right through to budgeting and public speaking.

The aim of the Bayer Young Viticulturist of the Year competition is to help grow the future leaders of the New Zealand wine industry and everyone who enters benefits from building their confidence and skill base as well as starting to make a name for themselves.

These three winners report that have been over the moon with this amazing prize of full use of a Hyundai Santa Fe for a whole year. 

Price goes on to represent the wine industry in the Young Horticulturist of the Year competition in November.  He will, of course, be driving up to Auckland for the competition in his Hyundai Santa Fe.