By Andrew Starke
Accolade Wines has appointed senior wine industry executive Tim Matz to the newly created role of managing director – North America.
Matz, who will report to Accolade Wines CEO, Troy Christensen, has extensive experience in the North American wine industry and a familiarity with the Australian wine industry through a previous role as president of what was then Fosters Wine Estates (Southcorp) in North America.
Christensen said Matz’s familiarity with the North American distribution scene would be a significant advantage for the business.
“North America and the United States specifically, remains one of the world’s key wine markets and we need to have our own operator there to get a hands-on perspective of that market,” he said.
”We believe that there is capacity to grow our brands in that market and Mr Matz’s background in range of wine businesses will ensure we have the knowledge to position ourselves well.”
Matz commenced with Accolade Wines yesterday (Sep 6) and he will be based in California’s Napa Valley.
“Few people appreciate that Accolade Wines remains a sizeable exporter of Californian wine to the UK and Europe,” said Christensen.
”Our Echo Falls brand is the number three brand in the UK and remains one of the fastest growing brands in that important market.”