By Jed Lanyon
For the last three years a miniature vineyard has been growing, tucked at the back of Upper Yarra Secondary College, and now the time has finally come to harvest the grapes.
It was a significant day for the school as its viticultural students took to the outdoors to pick the pinot noir grapes, while receiving lessons in harvesting from Yarrawood Estate winery on Wednesday 3 March.
It’s been a long time coming for the students now involved in the new Certificate II in Wine Industry Operations elective, as they started their high school journey around the same time Yarrawood Estate planted the root stock in a back paddock on the school’s grounds.
“We’re the only public school in Victoria with a vineyard,” said Year 10 student Laine.
“It’s kind of like our hidden gem here.
“The Yarra Valley wine industry is obviously one of the biggest in Victoria, so it’s kind of good to be contributing to that.”
Classmate Miesha said she never envisioned doing anything like this at school.
“I like being outside picking grapes with my friends, we’re having a good time whilst still learning something. It’s a good chance for us to do this as a career when we’re older,” she said.
“I’ve enjoyed learning something that we thought we’d never learn. Even just last year I wouldn’t have thought we’d be doing this, but now we’re out learning something that a lot of other kids don’t get to do.
“It’s definitely better than being stuck in maths or English.”
The school has partnered with Box Hill Institute to deliver the program.
Class teacher Marcus Cook said it was a “real life experience” for the students to see the winemaking process after learning the theory behind vineyard management.
“It’s a pretty exciting opportunity. It’s good that the students are getting a hands on process. They’re going to pick it, see it pressed, see it go to the bottle. They’re going to be involved in the marketing of it and design a label.
“It means the students might be able to stay local and won’t have to move out of the Valley to find meaningful employment, which I think is pretty important.”
Mr Cook said that while the school is not allowed to sell the wine, they can accept donations for it.
Yarrawood Estate managing director Tim Schwaiger said it had been “frustrating” that relevant facilities and courses hadn’t been available in the Yarra Valley.
“In the past we’ve paid for students and our employees in the Yarra Valley to go up to Dookie, which is a stretch,” he said. “To have a local facility and get the kids interested in and have the opportunity to get involved in the wine industry at a younger age would be fantastic.”
The students will soon take part in the pressing process at Yarrawood Estate, while Mr Schwaiger anticipates the wine to be available from early-to-mid 2022.
