Howard Park Chief Winemaker, Janice McDonald, has taken out Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine’s Winemaker of the Year award for 2018. The win is also one for Western Australia: Janice was the only West Australian nominated, the first WA finalist since 2015 and the first WA winner since 2012.

Janice McDonald has been Chief Winemaker at Howard Park since 2011, overseeing multiple wine brands across four vineyards in two of Australia’s premier wine growing regions – Margaret River and the Great Southern.

“I am thrilled to win,” Janice said. “This is the most wonderful recognition of what we’ve achieved at Howard Park. I feel I stand here as the representative of an enormous number of people who have such an important part to play – from the winemakers to the grape growers to the marketers to the people that sell the wine. Really the whole group of staff.”

Originally from New South Wales, Janice has had an illustrious career in Western Australia spanning 33 years, including positions as Senior Winemaker at Devil’s Lair, Head Brewer at Matilda Bay Brewing Co and Senior Winemaker and Co-founder of Stella Bella.

Last year Janice took out Best Australian Sparkling Wine at the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships; she was nominated previously for GT’s Winemaker of the Year in 2013; and was crowned Best Winemaker in the 2010 – 2011 edition of The Big Red Wine Book by Campbell Mattinson and Gary Walsh.

For the last 7 years, Janice has worked closely with Howard Park’s owners, the Burch Family, describing the decision to join Howard Park as Chief Winemaker as “easy”. 

The Burch Family said they were thrilled for Janice and congratulate her on her achievement. 

“For someone with such a career, we are just so honoured to have Janice working with us and believe this award really is testament to the esteem she is held in within the industry and among her peers,” said Marketing Director, Amy Burch.

“It is a huge validation of the work she has done not only in her years as a winemaker, but specifically at Howard Park. From taking on two quite different wine regions, spearheading our sparkling wine program, running a team of staff around the clock during prolonged vintages – she is tireless. We could not be prouder, and look forward to what she has in store for us in the future.”

During her tenure, Janice has made multiple professional ‘firsts’; overseeing the intricate methode traditionelle sparkling wine program, juggling vintages in two different wine regions 4-hours apart, handling an expanded range of wines and brands and crafting varieties that were completely new to her, such as Riesling and Pinot Noir. She is responsible for Howard Park’s flagship wine, the Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon, which is rated in the ‘Outstanding’ category in the Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine.

Janice also directs the Australian Collection of the lauded Marchand & Burch range, in collaboration with Burgundian winemaker Pascal Marchand.

Peter Forrestal, Gourmet Traveller writer and wine critic, had this to say in the announcement of Janice as nominee: “Janice McDonald is an astounding winemaker: demanding of herself and others; rigorous; painstaking in her attention to detail.”

Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine’s Winemaker of the Year Award celebrates its 21st year in 2018. It describes the accolade as “celebrat[ing] the most talented winemakers in the land.” The judging panel consists of well-known Australian wine industry names, including Peter Forrestal and Huon Hooke.

More from The Business Conversation:

Tips for small to medium size businesses from an award-winning business woman

Telstra’s 2018 NT business of the year Purple House is effecting real social change

Artificial Intelligence platform Codebots wins Queensland Startup of the Year iAward