Duncan Shouler, Giesen Group

Role:         Winemaking Consultant and Director of Innovation

Location:  Marlborough, New Zealand

My Background:

I was born into a naval family in the South of England, and grew up in naval town in England, in Cyprus and then in Scotland before emigrating to New Zealand in 2001. I think my time living in Cyprus sparked a passion for two things that have defined my career and my lifestyle: a love of the underwater World, and a fascination in food and wine.

So my career started as a marine biologist – perhaps not a natural progression to winemaking! But after moving to New Zealand at a time when the wine industry was starting to thrive, wine became my career and the underwater World became my hobby.

What are the top three challenges to maintaining your well-being in your work?

1. Well, as a winemaker and someone who is nearly always surrounded by wine, moderating alcohol content can be a challenge! I think it’s something you need to be really mindful of in the beverage industry. I’m in the wine industry because I absolutely love wine. I find it fascinating, and its such a fantastic drink with food and friends. But when it’s also part of your day to day working life, you’ve got to be really conscious of your consumption and find ways to moderate

2. Learning to trust those around you at work is, I think, one of the most important attributes you can develop in your career. This is something that took me a number of years to fully embrace, and I often held an underlying feeling that if you want something done you need to do it yourself. Learning to trust my colleagues was so influential in reducing my stress levels at work.

3. Finding time to really focus on your own well being can be tough. During the vintage period, free time is scarce, and it can be tough to find a way to squeeze exercise, relaxation time and family time into every 24 hours. But one way or another you’ve got to find a way to do it. 

What are 3 things you do (or try to do) to maintain your well-being?

1. Exercise is really key for me personally. Both physically and mentally. Trail running really does it for me. We are blessed in Marlborough with a fantastically diverse landscape, ranging from flat river plains to rugged hillsides and mountains. Running up the local hill ranges is something I do as often as I can. It hurts! But when you find yourself at the top of a ridge with a fantastic view of mountain ranges and vineyards it really does wonders for the soul.

2. I love food. And I really love cooking. Finding time to spend in the kitchen cooking something flavourful and interesting that I think (or at least hope!..) my family will enjoy is a great release for me after a long day at work.

3. I get distracted very easily, and have a relatively short attention span. I love coming up with ideas, but I often find I’m moving to the next one before I reached any form of finality on the previous one! So finding ways to structure my working day and creating focus periods where I work on only one thing with little or no distraction is really important for me.

What other beverages do you drink when you're not drinking alcohol?

This is going to sound very boring, but I drink a lot of water. We are lucky in Marlborough that we have fantastic quality tap water. And throughout the day, between coffee o’clock and wine o’clock, that is mostly what I drink. For occasion drinks, such as socially or over dinner, I’m drinking a lot of zero alcohol beverage alternatives now. In particular zero alcohol wines and RTD’s. I like to have fun with them - see how that can compliment food and try then with different garnishes such as herbs, citrus or even fresh chili.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

My first ever concert gig was Vanilla Ice…

What's your weirdest wellness hack

Jumping in our unheated pool in the middle of winter, holding my breath and sitting on the bottom of the pool for a couple of minutes. It’s a wonderful form of meditation and incredibly relaxing.

What are you looking forward to?

Christmas with family. This year we are hosting a lot of my extended family at our home in Marlborough. I’m sure it won’t be without it’s stresses, but with plenty of good food, good wine and good weather it should be a great day!

What inspires you on your journey in the beverage industry?

I learn something about wine every single day. Whether it’s an off-the-radar wine region I’ve never heard of, new innovative winemaking technology, or how, why, where and when people are consuming wine. It really is such a complex beverage. Following the growth of the NOLO wine category is especially inspiring for me at the moment. It’s fascinating to see how people have embraced this category in so many established wine markets. And what’s especially inspiring is that NOLO wines are just going to leap forward in quality over the next few years.

What is a quote that you love?

“Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them.” Alfred North Whitehead

You can connect with Duncan on Instagram at @duncanshouler and @giesenwines