Late issue I reviewed the white wines under the C.J. Pask label, newly branded four or five months ago under the managing director’s name – kate radburnd, pictured here. Kate is a legendary winemarker joining Pask Wines 20 years ago after a stint at Vidal’s. She is now the face of C.J. Pask. 
This new label could be said to be the feminine style that complements the more masculine style of C.J. Pask’s Gimblet Gravels label. It also allows the winery to exploit the expansion of its varietals portfolio by introducing wines that are not bound to estate-grown fruit. 


2009 kate radburnd vine velvet Wairarapa Pinot noir


You need to bear in mind that the entire range (white and red) under this new label is available at an RRP of $19. Sure, it may not wow you, but it’s very well made and priced keenly. This Pinot is light in colour and has a dark cherry and herby character on the palate – it is a very easy drinking wine with some lovely sweet fruit with a good firm tannin backbone that gives texture. The very dark cherry characters led me to believe I was drinking a Pinot noir from Central Otago – a consensus expressed by several others I tasted it with, who were equally surprised the grapes were from the Wairarapa.


2009 kate radburnd rich royal Merlot


The label of this wine cites it as being rich with plumy fruits, with a velvet texture; “seamless and silky”. I’m a little at odds at this description, as it would more aptly apply to the beautiful, more masculine, strong flavoured Gimblett Road Merlots, which for two decades have come from the Pask winery. 
My findings with the wine were different. I found the newly-released kate radburnd to be vinous rather than fruity and a style of taste more suited to a European palate. I did find the silky tannins but the wine was hardly rich or opulent. 
This wine will find a different and possibly more discerning market than the more masculine, juicy Gimblett Gravels series, and since both sit at about the same RRP of $19, the masculine is my preference.

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John Ingle has had a long and illustrious career as a sommelier, having stakes in places such as Vinnie’s and Prohibition. A former owner of Number 5 restaurant, he now owns and operates the impeccable Pinot Plus on the Shore. He was awarded sommelier of the year in 2005 at the Lewisham Awards.