Saturday, 14 February 2015 00:00

Sassy Women, Sassy Wine Mary Shanahan

Written by 
Hayley Young, Young Estate wines. Hayley Young, Young Estate wines.

Planning the launch of her own range of wines, Hayley Young was keen to reflect women’s success and their contribution to society in the brand.

 So she developed strong characters, fictional, but based on women she knows, to represent each of the first four wine styles in her Young Estate range.  

Personifying methode traditionelle, Bettie Bubbles is a fashion designer.  Aviator Penny Noir lends her name to the Pinot Noir.  Ruby Rosé is an events manager while Savannah Blanc, the character Hayley feels is most like herself, travels to remote locations in her role as a geologist.

“I looked at the way women are represented in the media,” Young says, “and felt a lot of the time they were objectified.  These women are allowed to be feminine but they are empowered images of women.”

The wines are sold online.  Ultimately, the plan is to feature 10 characters on the labels and to perhaps bring them to life with a YouTube film series.

Young believes the message is important but says the brand is also “about having fun – it’s a wine company specialising in good quality wines with feminine spirit, class and gumption!”

Born and bred in Invercargill, the 30-year-old aspires to those qualities herself.  After gaining a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), she worked as a chemical and process engineer in Tasmania and then as a marine engineer.

In 2013, an interest in developing a career centred on wine led to her move to Hawke’s Bay to study EIT’s Graduate Diploma in Oenology.  There she gained hands-on experience working successive vintages at C J Pask and Trinity Hill.

Studying part-time and online allowed her to develop a number of strands in her wine-related career.  She works with winery clients New Zealand-wide for a health and safety consultancy and more recently signed up with WorleyParsons – a company that designs, builds and maintains industrial plants – working on a contract basis on projects that include winery builds.

She has also established a wine club.  Clients sign up with a group of friends to receive three bottles of wine each month.  The aim of the business is to develop their taste and understanding of wine by focusing on different styles and regions.  

“I feel I’ve found my life’s purpose,” Young says of all these ventures.  And although she needs to travel a lot with her various jobs, she doesn’t intend to leave the “paradise” she has found in Hawke’s Bay.

“It’s got the best climate, there’s so much to do, it’s beautiful, the food and wine is amazing, it’s a nice size and there are no traffic jams,” she adds with a laugh. 

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