Clare Valley and Victoria pick for the Next Crop

The Clare Valley Wine & Grape Association and Wine Victoria have been selected to run Wine Australia's leadership program, Next Crop in 2022.

Next Crop enables regions to design and deliver their own development programs to support emerging leaders within their communities.

Anna Baum of the Clare Valley Wine & Grape Association said, “This program will provide 20 young winemakers, grape growers and sales and marketers with the appropriate personal, business and leadership skills to lead the region in their fields."

Beyond the training program, participants are asked to then share their knowledge and skills in leading future initiatives for the benefit of the region.

Wine Victoria's Kim Chalmers agrees, saying that the program is a starting point for advancing the industry as a whole.

“The program will kick start a culture of leadership and collaboration within a number of Victoria’s smaller regions who would struggle to achieve this without the program’s support and structure. Developing a cohort of future leaders and mentors is vital to help the regions to grow and prosper, giving the next generation a focus and a platform,” Ms Chalmers said.

Wine Australia General Manager Research, Development and Adoption Dr Liz Waters said, “We’re delighted to see Next Crop taking roots in Clare Valley and Victoria in 2022. Next Crop helps those within our grape and wine communities to understand their leadership capacity and build new skills. We want to help build confidence within individuals and to provide a development opportunity that will keep them engaged and committed to the region and their career in the grape and wine sector.”

The 2022 program is the first formal offering of Next Crop, with a pilot program proving successful in the Barossa Valley and Langhorne Creek in 2021 involving almost 40 participants in both regions.