Pioneering Marlborough photographer and winemaker Kevin Judd has been named the 2025 Marlborough Living Cultural Treasure. Kevin has forged concurrent careers in wine and photography for the past 40 years, with the two passions frequently overlapping thanks to extraordinary images that capture the grapes, vines, vineyards and wine landscapes the winemaker is so familiar with.
Kevin was born in England and grew up in Australia, where he studied winemaking at Roseworthy College and first made wine at Reynella in South Australia. He moved to New Zealand in 1983 and joined Selaks Wines, before becoming founding winemaker at Cloudy Bay, where he stayed for 25 vintages. In 2009 he established his own label, Greywacke. Alongside his stellar winemaking career, Kevin developed a parallel reputation in photography, and for more than three decades his evocative images have appeared in countless publications worldwide, including The Colour of Wine (1999), and The Landscape of New Zealand Wine (2009).
He says his interest in photography has evolved during his years in Marlborough, “initially focusing on the spectacular vineyard landscapes and more recently on the stunning natural beauty of Marlborough’s mountains, the dramatic coastal terrain and the precious bird life that inhabits it”. Kevin and his wife Kimberley live in the Omaka Valley, overlooking the picturesque vineyards that provide inspiration for both his passions.
This article was first published in New Zealand Winegrower magazine issue 152 and is republished with permission.
