The winner was announced at a luncheon in Auckland, attended by some of New Zealand's most successful business leaders.
David Ridley, General Manager of Veuve Clicquot's local subsidiary, said "Madame Clicquot was a risk taker, an innovator and an optimist. She was daring, tenacious, resilient and unconventional. These are the qualities the Veuve Clicquot Award recognises and celebrates, and which Julie Christie clearly possesses in abundance. The judging panel believes Julie Christie is a fitting winner of the inaugural New Zealand Award."
Mr Ridley said that they were delighted that the award had attracted a significant number of nominations from throughout New Zealand in its inaugural year.
"The calibre of all the nominations we received was extremely high and with so many of the candidates demonstrating Madame Clicquot's qualities, the judging process was very difficult. However, at the end of the day we felt Julie's entrepreneurship and tenaciousness singled her out. Through her persistence and hard work, she showed that through recognising the value of intellectual property, New Zealand can move from being just a creative incubator to a successful player in the global market," Mr Ridley said.
As New Zealand winner of The Veuve Clicquot Award 2008, Ms Christie will fly to Reims, France, in October to join past and present laureates from other countries at the annual Veuve Clicquot Businesswomen's Meeting, where a vine will be christened in her name. She will also receive La Grande Dame champagne, the company's prestige cuvée release, every year on Madame Clicquot's birthday.
The Veuve Clicquot Award for businesswomen was launched in France in 1972 to commemorate the extraordinary qualities of Madame Clicquot. The recipient must display entrepreneurial drive; leadership skills; an ability to motivate and inspire others; to meet challenges, take risks and overcome obstacles to achieve success; with experience in managing a profitable company or organisation that has shown consistent financial success; a woman with charisma, individuality, style and tenacity. Today the award is presented in 18 countries including New Zealand.
The New Zealand judging panel comprises Rosanne Meo OBE, Chairman of Briscoe Group Limited, Chairman of AMP New Zealand and Deputy Chair of Baycorp Advantage; Sally Synnott, founder of Pumpkin Patch; Catherine Savage, CEO of CMS Capital Ltd - an investment company specializing in private equity; Brenda Ward, Editor of Next magazine; and on behalf of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, David Ridley.