New Chair of Judges for the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards
22nd January 2010
Kate Radburnd has been appointed Chair of Judges for the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards, replacing Master of Wine, Bob Campbell.
Kate Radburnd is an oenology graduate from Roseworthy Agricultural College, South Australia, and has been winemaking in New Zealand for over 26 years.
Kate joined Vidal Estate in Hawke’s Bay on graduation, and during those seven years with Vidal Estate, her Chardonnay and Bordeaux based red wines won both national and international trophies and acclaim.
In 1991, Kate joined CJ Pask Winery as Winemaker and her national and international success with the production of award winning wines has continued, endorsed by her being named Hawkes Bay Winemaker of the Year in 2001.
CJ Pask Winery has been awarded gold medal and trophy success in London, Australia, Asia, United States, Canada and New Zealand, across a range of varietals and winestyles. The winery has also won awards in relation to environmental practice, export achievements and general business practice.
Kate became a co-owner of CJ Pask Winery in 1993 and she was appointed Managing Director in 1999, in addition to her winemaking role.
Kate and the winery are committed to environmental management. She was founding Chairperson of Living Wine, a group of four wineries which achieved a world first for wineries in gaining the environmental accreditation ISO:14001, presented at Parliament in 1998 by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. She has been instrumental in the development of the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand programme, particularly incorporating winery practices alongside the well established vineyard programme. She chaired the advisory group for 5 years. The company's vineyards and winery are Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand accredited.
Kate is passionate about wine and the wine industry and holds several industry positions. She chaired the Hawkes Bay Vintners in 1997/1998. Kate has been a Director of New Zealand Winegrowers since 1999, and has also held the role of Deputy Chair of The Wine Institute of NZ. She is a senior judge at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards and was appointed by Air New Zealand as a wine consultant in 2005, responsible in particular for the longhaul inflight wine selection. Since 2001 Kate has been a member of council of the Eastern Institute of Technology, a ministerial appointment, and Deputy Chair of this council since 2004.
Her experience is extensive and she has judged in the major national wine competitions and has also been invited as a guest international judge in the United States and Australia. In 2009 Kate has been appointed Chair of Judges for the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards, New Zealand's oldest national wine competition and becomes the first ever woman to chair a national wine competition in either Australia or New Zealand.
Kate works closely with her co-winemaker Russell Wiggins as they continually develop, fine tune and design our range of wines.