Meet the Amazing Greystone Interns: Victoria Morin

Every harvest season, Greystone welcomes a team of interns from all over the world—Italy, France, Germany, England, North America, and beyond. While they come from different backgrounds, they share a passion for wine and a dedication to learning and growing in this field.

Harvest is an intense and rewarding time, filled with long days of pressing, fermenting, monitoring, and plenty of cleaning. Through the hard work, we exchange knowledge, techniques, and traditions from our respective corners of the industry. Our interns don’t just work together; they live together, eat together, and become part of the Greystone family. These connections last long after the wine has finished fermenting and is put to barrel, as we continue to exchange visits, bottles, and friendships across the globe. In this blog series, we introduce you to the people behind the harvest—their backgrounds, inspirations, and aspirations.

Q&A with Greystone Intern – Victoria Morin

Q: Where are you originally from, and where do you live now?
A: I am originally from Arbois, a small French town in the department of Jura (east of France). And I live now in Arbois.  

Q: What inspired you to pursue a career in the wine industry, and how long have you been working in this field?
A: I come from a family of winemakers (for 8 generations!), and I’ve always been drawn to the wine industry. But at 18, I wanted to move to the city and was interested in social sciences, so I started a university course. I studied in Lyon, then lived and worked for 6 years in Paris. 

But little by little, I kept thinking more and more about wine and vineyards, and I kept returning more frequently to my parents’ place in Arbois… My father started the Domaine de la Touraize 15 years ago, and I began to project myself more and more into this project.

COVID was a turning point! I couldn’t find meaning in my life in Paris anymore and felt more and more drawn to the wine world. In the summer of 2022, I decided to change my life, return to Arbois in Jura, and resume studies in winemaking and oenology to learn the profession of a winemaker. I did my first winemaking in 2022 in Beaujolais at Domaine Marcel Lapierre, and in 2023 and 2024, I did the winemaking at Domaine de la Touraize, at my family’s estate!  

Q: What’s your line of work back home?
A: At the estate, I am a vineyard employee. We work on 10 hectares. In addition to my mother and father, there are three of us working in the vineyard, the cellar, and order preparations… I do a bit of everything!  

Q: How did you first learn about Greystone Wines?
A: I heard about you because I spoke with some young people from my village about my trip to New Zealand. One of them had worked with you during the 2018 harvest and only spoke highly of your estate!  

Q: What excites you the most about this upcoming vintage?
A: What excites me the most is discovering the estate, new ways of working, new techniques, grape varieties I’m not used to working with! And working in a larger estate with a bigger team, because I really enjoy working as part of a team.

Q: Have you visited New Zealand before, or have you explored other winemaking regions?
A: This is my first time in New Zealand! I’ve already explored wine regions in France (Savoie, Ardèche, Burgundy, Loire…) and in Switzerland.  

Q: What do you enjoy most about vintage?
A: What I enjoy the most is seeing the result of a whole year’s work transform… into wine! I love the adrenaline of the harvest, and that each harvest is different depending on the vintage, with so many possibilities—it’s exciting! It’s exciting to work with living things.  

Q: Was wine a part of your family life growing up? Did your parents drink it or let you try a sip?
A: Yes, as I mentioned earlier, wine has been part of my family for a long time! We drink wine in our family!

Q: If you could choose one last wine to enjoy, what would it be (death row wine)?
A: I’ll be chauvinistic, I think of Savagnin, a white grape variety from Jura. A 2019 Savagnin ouillé (a very beautiful vintage in Jura, a cold year but with superb acidity in the wines!). I love its citrus notes and its liveliness.  

Q: What future aspirations do you have – in or out of the wine world? 
A: I would like to make wine with respect for life and people! I want to make wines with beautiful energy that reflect the terroir and the vintage. I would like to continue working with serenity despite the challenges of climate change… It’s not simple, but there are solutions, like hybrid grape varieties in the vineyard, and I’d like to focus on that. I love collaboration and also hope to meet people to imagine projects together.