Congratulations to Katie Cameron who has officially been named the North Island Young Winemaker of the Year for 2024.
Cameron currently works at Ata Rangi in Martinborough and was awarded the 2024 Tonnellerie de Mercurey North Island Young Winemaker of the Year on 25 July this year following the competition held at the wine campus of the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke’s Bay.
The regional competition is open to all eligible contestants from the North Island and this year contestants came from regions including Waiheke Island, Waikato, Martinborough and Hawke’s Bay. Young winemakers are tested on a range of skills and knowledge, including wine fault finding, a cellar challenge, the Constellation Laboratory Section, the Indevin Wine Tasting Section and an interview. One of the key challenges of this year's competition was to create a rosé blend from six different wines, then pitch it to a panel using criteria as if it was being proposed to a supermarket in the United Kingdom.
The Constellation Laboratory Section was won by Charlotte Ross from Craggy Range, who also won the best interview prize of a Dale Carnegie Leadership Course. There was a draw for the Indevin Wine Tasting Section which went to Aaron Coxhead and Katie Cameron. Cameron also won the Blending Section.
Aileen Luo won the Fault Finding Section and Josh Kingston took out the In Market Pitch.
“This year's competition highlights the fact that there are some very talented young winemakers emerging from around the North Island” said the judges. “All six showed great passion for winemaking and the drive to keep learning and progressing their careers.”
Cameron's prize was a Fruitfed Supplies Field Trip, $1,000 cash and a personal cellar for a year. She will compete back in the Wairarapa Wine Region for this year’s National Final at The Runholder in Martinborough on 27 August. She also came second in the 2022 Young Viticulturist of the Year National Final, demonstrating that she understands winegrowing from the vine to wine.
The competition is is sponsored by Tonnellerie de Mercurey, Fruitfed Supplies, Constellation Brands, Indevin, FMG, Lab Supply, Laffort, Tira Crown, Visy, Winejobsonline, New World, NZSVO, Pernod Ricard and New Zealand Winegrowers.
