KATE RADBURND Hawke’s Bay winemaker
When asked what she loves about her job, Kate Radburnd expresses it beautifully. “The best time during vintage is being in the vineyard, early morning, when the sun shines through the canopy and the grapes are glistening.
“When I see a stunning block of grapes, it literally makes the hairs on my arm stand on end, and I know it is up to me to realise the full potential of this fruit into the best wine possible,” says the 56-year-old.
While she’s happy to wax lyrical, it’s the empirical that really captivates her. Radburnd always knew she was headed for the sciences, so winemaking was a good fit.
While she’s loved that as winemaker she’s become involved in not just the vineyard but also sales, marketing and general management, what she truly relishes is time in the lab.
“Tasting and analysing wine and then making decisions based on those results, this is probably what I love the most.”
A winemaker for more than 35 years, she spent 26 years as joint owner, winemaker and managing director of Pask Winery, and Vidal Estate before that. She’s also the first woman winemaker to be named a fellow of New Zealand Winegrowers.
In 2017 she set up Radburnd Cellars in Napier as a small producer of “super premium” wines.
“It was time for me to make wines exactly the way I want to. We’ll have four wines – chardonnay, syrah, a blended red from Hawke’s Bay, and a pinot noir from Martinborough. Our winemaking style across all these wines is a focus on pristine pure fruit characters, subtle oak and a lovely backbone of acidity, emphasising cool climate viticulture. This produces elegant, restrained styles which age beautifully.”
While reaching the top of her game is rewarding, she’s driven to help other winemakers do the same.
Although Radburnd, whose daughter has recently completed her viticulture and winemaking degree, doesn’t feel she’s had a more difficult path as a woman.
Radburnd is one of eight trial mentors in
New Zealand Winegrowers’ Women in Wine initiative, which aims to encourage greater participation and performance of women right across the sector.
“I am just over halfway through the pilot and have been amazed at how helpful it has been to me, learning from my mentee.
“We have a pool of exceptional young talent in our industry and I am very excited to see the future evolution of this programme.”