At the Annual General Meeting on Thursday 21st October, nominations were called for from the floor for the two vacant seats representing Fruit & Vine and Forestry. Nick Hoskins was nominated for the Fruit & Vine sector seat, and as no other nominations were received he was duly elected. No nominations were received for the Forestry seat which remains vacant.
NZ Plant Producers would like to extend a warm welcome to Nick and look forward to working together over the coming years.
Nick commenced his working career as an apprentice gardener with Wellington Parks and Reserves, the apprenticeship covered all areas of Amenity Horticulture.
Nick moved to rural Martinborough in 1980, initially to work on a large private garden and farm. After helping plant some of the first vineyards in the area, Nick was employed to manage the vineyards for 'Martinborough Vineyards Ltd', where he completed a RNZIH diploma in fruit production. Nick continued to manage the company’s expanding vineyards from 1985 to 1998. During this time Nick chaired the Wairarapa Grape Vine Improvement group, which was formed to improve grapevine genetics in the region and affiliated to the national group. This is where he met Geoff Thorpe (the owner of Riversun Nurseries Ltd).
In 1998 Nick joined Riversun Nursery Ltd in Gisborne to provide viticultural advice to clients across New Zealand and to establish superior sources of rootstock and scion wood for the nursery. Returning to Masterton in 2003 Nick established a viticultural consultancy business and two years later, Vine Managers Wairarapa Ltd. The company managed around 150ha in the region before discontinuing management services after the first COVID lockdown in 2019. Nick continues to consult with Riversun clients and advise the Riversun group (Riversun Grapes, Riversun Plants and Linnaeus Laboratories).
From 2009 - 2015 Nick added the role of Research project manager for the New Zealand Winegrowers “Virus Elimination Project". On successful completion of this project Nick continued with New Zealand Winegrowers (now Bragatto Research Institute) as the project manager for the ambitious 7 year 7 mill “Vineyard Ecosystems Programme”. This programme is due to conclude in December 2022.
Nick is a familiar figure in every key wine region and maintains a home base in Masterton, from which he operates his consultancy/advisory services.