Musical Winemakers: Charles Krug Winery announced the return of David Galzignato as winemaker. Galzignato was the prior winemaker at Paraduxx and Lewis Cellars. In addition to his hands-on winemaking work in the United States, Galzignato also brings an international perspective to winemaking and viticulture having worked with fruit from several properties in Italy including Tuscany's Tenuta Di Arceno, Piedmont's Ada Nada Winery and Lombardy's Le Fracce. (Bill Nancarrow is still the director of winemaking overseeing Duckhorn and Paraduxx). Benchmark Consulting assisted Charles Krug in this placement.
Richard Batchelor, who recently left Hall Winery to pursue new interests, is filling in as winemaker for Paraduxx, replacing David Galzignato, who, as mentioned above, is moving over to Charles Krug.
Paraduxx assistant winemaker Brian Brakesman, meanwhile, joined the winemaking team at Ledson Winery & Vineyards in Sonoma Valley, where he will work closely with winemaker/ owner Steve Ledson and company president Jack Ryno, who prior to joining Ledson was vice president of wine production for Kendall-Jackson.
At Paraduxx, the new assistant winemaker will be Dave Marchesi, who was previously with Gundlach Bundschu working on their Bartholomew Park wines. He starts on August 1.
Finally, Hall Winery announced the appointment of Steve Leveque as director of winemaking, where there's plenty going on including a new winemaking facility opening before harvest and the Frank Gehry project. Born and raised in Napa Valley, Leveque was a winemaker with Robert Mondavi for 11 years and most recently was executive vice president and winemaker of Chalk Hill Estate Winery in Sonoma. He joins assistant winemaker Megan Gunderson and consulting winemaker David Ramey at Hall.
Jacqueline Yoakum is the new winemaker for Nicholson Ranch of Sonoma. She was previously associate winemaker for Littorai Wines and also worked with Paul Hobbs on his Argentinian project, Viña Cobos, as well as at Trinchero Napa Reserve, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Cakebread, Schramsberg and Joseph Phelps. Nicholson Ranch founding winemaker Thomas Brown has been working on several new projects and is moving on as he consolidates his consulting clients closer to his Calistoga home.
Chappellet Vineyard & Winery announced the appointment of Master Sommelier Chris Blanchard as its educational director. Prior to joining Chappellet, Blanchard was California sales director for Etude Winery, Northern California sales manager for Far Niente, Dolce and Nickel & Nickel, and at the Henry Wine Group. Blanchard also served as the wine director for Redd Restaurant. Previously he was the national corporate wine and spirits director for the Moana Hotel and sommelier for the Auberge du Soleil Resort.
Nomacorc, the producer of synthetic wine closures, named Steven Billey as North American field sales manager. Billey joins Nomacorc from Innovative Spirits, where he served as vice president and national sales manager. Before Innovative Spirits, he held several field and category management roles with International Distillers and Vintners (Diageo), Canandaigua (Constellation) and Delicato Family Winery. He has more than 22 years of experience in the "beverage alcohol industry" in the United States.
The Associated Press reported that compensation for Constellation Brands CEO Robert Sands was $6.2 million in fiscal 2008, as detailed in a proxy statement. For the year ended February 29, Robert Sands drew a salary of $978,070, a bonus of $606,403, $835,663 in performance incentives plus perks worth $205,549, most of which was use of company aircraft. He also received stock and options valued at $3.59 million. In fiscal 2007, he received $1.5 million in compensation. Richard Sands, 56, who switched to chairman after 14 years at the helm, reportedly had compensation valued at $4.1 million in fiscal 2007. In the latest fiscal year, he received nearly $7.3 million, including stock and options with an estimated value of $4.2 million, AP said.
