Kate Goodman
Breath of fresh air
Award-winning winemaker Kate Goodman is shaking things up in a region famous for its classic wines and stalwart producers.
When fourth-generation winemakers Ang and Bec Tolley took over the family winery, Penley Estate, they overhauled the brand and rethought their winemaking approach. Key to this transformation was getting Kate on board. Based in Victoria’s Yarra Valley wine region, and with an impressive career already behind her, Kate arrived with guns blazing, bringing a fresh vision to the classic region of Coonawarra.
Bright spark
When Kate came to Penley Estate in Coonawarra, her brief was to make the wines more relevant and contemporary.
“My first harvest here was 2016, and I guess I came in with no expectations and no influence from the rest of the region, just got on and did our thing,” says Kate.
A string of recent awards and praise suggest she’s succeeded, crafting bright, fresh wines that are a breath of fresh air in a region famous for its powerful reds.
“We’re working really hard to get soul and personality into all of our wines,” says Kate. We’re picking earlier. We’re bottling earlier. We’re using less oak in our wines. We’re bottling with freshness and energy and life in our wines. We’re making wines that are contemporary yet still reflect our home.”
Thanks to her successes at Penley Estate – as well as in her own eponymous wine label in the Yarra Valley – Kate was named 2018 Winemaker of the Year at the Australian Women in Wine Awards.
It was a bright spot in a career full of highlights. After completing a degree in biomedical science, Kate quickly realised a life in an office or lab wasn’t for her, so she changed tack and studied winemaking. She’s worked with major names, including Wirra Wirra in McLaren Vale, Seppelt in the Grampians and Yarra Valley’s Punt Road Wines. She has consulted for an array of wine producers and worked vintages in France, Spain and the US.
In 2013, Kate launched her own wine label, Goodman Wines, and a few years later joined the team at Penley Estate. Her winemaking style and philosophy of letting the vineyard shine through in her wines has won her fans the world over.
“We get one chance every year to capture the vineyard at its best,” she says. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but if you don't experiment and push boundaries you’re never going to improve your wine quality.”
“We’re bottling with freshness and energy and life in our wines. We’re making wines that are contemporary yet still reflect our home.” – Kate Goodman
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