EIT Appoints First Honorary Research Fellow

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EIT Appoints First Honorary Research Fellow

Wine industry researcher, teacher and founder of Hawke’s Bay’s Cross Roads winery Malcolm Reeves has been appointed EIT’s first honorary research and teaching fellow.

Recently retired as a senior lecturer in wine science at EIT, Malcolm will maintain his links to the industry with the fellowship, contributing on an ad hoc basis to the research activity of EIT colleagues and assisting as required with the development of wine science teaching programmes.

“I hope to be research active,” he says, “enjoying my retirement by keeping up with the literature.”

After gaining a Master of Technology (Food), Malcolm ran a plant in Sydney that was among the first to make speciality yeast for the wine industry. Winemaking stints with McWilliams in Australia’s Hunter Valley and Louis Martini in California’s Napa Valley whetted his appetite for further industry involvement.

Malcolm left a position lecturing in food technology at Massey University to establish and run Cross Roads in Korokipo Road. He made the winery’s first vintage in 1990. The business is now known as Crossroads and is owned by the Yealands Wine Group.

Employed by EIT as a part-time academic in 1997, Malcolm moved to a full-time position in 2002. An authority on wine education in China, he has regularly co-authored papers with College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering staff at China Agricultural University.

“I still have links with China and CAU and will be returning to deliver presentations for a year or two yet.”

EIT’s researchers have developed strong links to Hawke’s Bay winegrowers, Malcolm says, and the team’s work has been recognised in New Zealand Winegrowers’ funding for significant research aimed at benefitting the industry.

EIT research projects examining aspects of canopy management and water utilisation and others involving red wine cap management and tannin extraction have been undertaken with support from local grape growers and wineries.

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