Saint Clair Family Estate’s Laboratory and Quality Manager Katasha Pearce made the whole team proud when she came second in the 2026 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Marlborough Young Winemaker competition last week.
Alongside the second-place title, Katasha picked up the People’s Choice Award for her Rosé, which was tasted alongside wines from fellow competitors by attendees at an awards dinner.
Katasha said the award was a ‘nice surprise’ after a gruelling day of competition tasks, which included eight sections covering wine judging, blending and market pitch, an interview, fault finding, a cellar practical, a lab practical, general wine knowledge, and a speech.
She was up against nine other Marlborough young wine industry members, and was pleased to have the support of the Saint Clair team leading up to the event, as well as on the day.
“The best part of the competition is the people. You get to spend a lot of time with the other contestants, the organising committee and the judges. I was also very proud to represent Saint Clair, the team was so supportive and lots of different people helped me practise or gave me advice before the big day,” she said.
Katasha joined the wine industry later in life, following a career in journalism, marketing and communications. After returning to New Zealand from living and working overseas, she switched gears entirely to study wine science, completing a Master's degree researching Pinot Noir, eventually landing in Marlborough to work fulltime as a cellar hand.
"I love the seasonal nature of working in wine," she said. "You're doing something different at every point of the year. I also love the excitement of harvest and meeting so many people from around the world. Making a tangible, high quality product that people enjoy is also very special."
Katasha joined Saint Clair Family Estate in January this year in a role that keeps her across every aspect of wine and juice testing, including quality and compliance, ensuring every wine that leaves the winery meets Saint Clair's high standards.
Saint Clair Co-Managing Director Sarina Ibbotson said it was no surprise to the team that Katasha had done so well at the 2026 Marlborough Young Winemaker Competition.
“Katasha is a dedicated member of our team who prides herself on holding our wines to a high standard. She has amazing attention to detail, which shows in her work, and it showed at the competition, as well,” she said. “We are very proud of her achievements.”
Katasha was pleased to have been able to compete in the competition twice, following a rule change allowing competitors up to the age of 34, with fewer than five years’ experience.
"I never thought I would be able to participate because I started in the industry late, so I'm just happy to be able to give it a go," Katasha says. "It's essentially being a competitive nerd, which is great,” she said.
Next year, Katasha will have aged out and accumulated too much experience to meet competition criteria. But for now, Saint Clair is proud to have her back in the lab and raising a glass to a well-deserved second place.
