Sponsored by Misha’s Vineyard in Central Otago, the inaugural award for Junior Sommelier of the Year was taken out by 24-year-old Oliver Carr from Wellington.
“Ollie” as he prefers to be known, is no stranger to hospitality. Having grown up ensconced in the restaurants owned by his father, Carr embarked on a double degree in Law and Philosophy at Victoria. Not surprisingly, he gravitated towards restaurant work as a way to fund his studies
“I started off as a waiter which was long before I had an interest in wine, but that’s probably where I first started to learn about it,” says Carr.
While staying in a University Hostel, Carr landed a role at seafood specialist Shed 5, a place he credits as having a major influence on his wine education.
“Shed 5 had a very cool international wine list and it really opened my eyes to how delicious wine could be.”
Though for an undergraduate student surviving on hospitality wages and a government loan, developing an interest and knowledge of wine was anything but straightforward.
“Then Stephen Morris, who was the front of house manager at Shed 5 came on board, and he was like a mentor to me and allowed me to sit in on tastings. Suddenly, I was tasting dozens of wines a week and it was then I decided to
make wine my life. Being able to make someone’s week by introducing them to a new wine and chatting about it is an awesome feeling.”
With his curiosity and taste buds tweaked, something had to give. Carr soldiered through four and a half years of his double degree before pulling the pin.
“I probably knew for a couple of years that I didn’t want to be a lawyer and wine fitted the gap as a career with lots of interesting potential.”
Having decided to pursue his goal of turning wine into something more than a fleeting hobby, Carr headed south and enrolled in the post-graduate diploma in Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University. It was during this time that he heard about the Junior Sommellier contest.
“I was just working as a barman at a place called The Wine Bar in Christchurch. I found out about the contest on-line and wasn’t sure that I would be eligible as I wasn’t working as a somm at the time, but when I saw that they were going to pay for flights to attend, I went for it.”
After a gruelling day that consisted of a blind tasting, a written test and a practical assessment, he emerged triumphant.
“I was absolutely over the moon - a little shocked as there were questions on France, which I am a little sketchy on, but it was probably the greatest feeling of my young life.”
So what better way to reward the achievement than a trip to Central Otago complete with tutored tastings of the region’s top wines with wine maker Ollie Masters, a specially prepared degustation dinner at The Rees Hotel and a chopper tour over the region, a first for Carr.
Interestingly, while the trip to Central Otago was the prize, Carr had already made the decision to move there before he entered the competition. Unsure of how to break into the world of wine away from hospitality, he sent off an application to Nick Paulin at Peregrine wines and was given a job as part of their vineyard team.
“It took me a bit of time to get my hands toughened up to do the work, but I’m getting a really good physical impression on the relationship between the land and the wine, the importance of the sense of place and the acute variables between different parcels of land.”
As a young man on a mission to fast track his entry into the winemaking side of the industry, Carr seems refreshingly realistic about the work ahead of him. For now he is happy to soak up the Central Otago sun, look forward to the impending harvest and make plans for the cooler months.
