Adamson lands top job at New Zealand generic

Published: 23 July, 2008

Warren Adamson, Villa Maria's European wine manager, has clinched the new higher-profile UK marketing manager job for New Zealand Winegrowers (NZWG).

His role will differ from that of the previous incumbent, Sara Watson, in that NZWG has decided to elevate the role' to reflect the importance of the UK market, as New Zealand's number-one export market.

Adamson is a 36-year-old New Zealander who has been in the UK since 1998 and has worked in the New Zealand wine trade for more than 10 years.

He began his wine trade career by selling Villa Maria wines to local restaurants. He then dealt with the independent retail trade before being promoted to regional manager North Island.

In the UK, he has been responsible for sales, in all key European markets, of Esk Valley and Vidal Wines, in addition to Villa Maria.

Philip Gregan, the chief executive officer of New Zealand Winegrowers, said: We have taken the decision to invest more heavily in our number-one market, the UK, and the first obvious, but major, step was to find the right person to lead New Zealand onto its next stage.

With Warren's breadth of experience covering all aspects of the wine trade, from his current high-level commercial role right back to his time in the vineyards, we are confident that he will fulfil all our expectations and more.'

Adamson, who is married to Kate Sweet, Brown-Forman's PR and events manager, told Harpers: The key thing is to pinpoint and understand where we are now and where we want to be in the future.'

Asked whether he is going to be the Michael Cox [the charismatic UK director of Wines of Chile] of New Zealand, Adamson quipped: I have immense respect for Michael and what he has done for Chile. We will certainly be looking at what Chile is doing. As to whether I can live up to him, I will certainly try.'

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