Clos du Val in Transition

 
 
A new day is dawning at Napa's Clos du Val, as its parent company consolidates and reorganizes staffing needs.
PHOTO: Marvin Collins
 
Napa, Calif. -- If it seems like there have been a lot of changes in personnel at Clos du Val Winery, it's no illusion.

In the last year, a number of officers have left, others have joined the Napa Valley-based winery including an interim CEO, industry veteran Dick Maher. The reason for the turnover is not trouble, however, but a change in the organization's role.

Clos du Val was started in 1972 by American John Goelet and Frenchman Bernard Portet, but winemaker and president Portet was virtually its only face for many years. Goelet and Portet focus on terroir-driven wine in the French model, and winemaker Portet selected two sites in the Napa Valley--150 acres in the Stags Leap District for growing Bordelaise varieties and 180 acres in the cooler Carneros region for Burgundian varieties--after a two-year search around the world.

A few years ago, Portet shed his ownership in the winery; his new role was to help with winemaking at all the estates and serve as a spokesman for the company and its wines. "He's the soul of Clos du Val," said new CEO Maher.

In the meantime, Goelet acquired other wine properties across the globe: Taltarni Vineyards in Victoria, Australia in the early 1970s; Clover Hill in Tasmania, Australia in 1986, and Lalla Gully in Tasmania and Domaine de Nizas in the Languedoc region of France in the 1990s.

In September of 2007, Goelet formed Goelet Wine Estates to consolidate the marketing and sales of the family's five wine brands globally. He appointed Tasmanian Adam Torpy, who was chief executive of Taltarni, president of sales and marketing. Over time, the sales and marketing organization became a corporate umbrella, and Torpy assumed the role of overall CEO.

With this change, each winery, which had been handling its own sales and marketing, turned that task over to the parent organization and focused on wine production. Each also is responsible for its local wine tasting room and wine club.

Former president David Campbell left Clos Du Val to start a tea company. John Clews became chief operating officer of production in September this year. Clews was already vice president of vineyard and winery operations, having joined Clos Du Val in 1999.

Last week, Torpy appointed Dick Maher interim president and CEO of Clos du Val Winery. Maher, a well-known figure in the wine industry, has long been a board member of Goelet Wine Estates. He is principal of Maher & Associates, a consulting company he founded in 1992, and has served as president of Beringer Vineyards, the Seagram Wine Company, Christian Brothers Winery and Heublein Fine Wines (Beaulieu Vineyards, Inglenook, Christian Brothers, Gustave Niebaum, Quail Ridge and Rutherford Estates).

Maher told Wines & Vines that as a board member, he can also offer his experience in to the overall group. He takes over at a time when most wineries are feeling the pinch of the economy, and noted that it's fortunate that this year's harvest was small.

Torpy also appointed John Moreau as vice president of sales for Goelet Wine Estate Americas; Robert Salz had been vice president of sales at Clos du Val Wine Company.

Moreau has extensive experience on both the distributor and supplier sides in various senior sales positions. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of sales for Remy Cointreau USA. At Remy, Moreau also managed sales for Merryvale wines of Napa Valley, as well as Piper Heidsieck and Charles Heidsieck Champagne brands. Moreau will be based at Clos du Val Winery in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley and will report to Torpy. He resides in Tucson, Ariz.

In addition, Mary Ann Vangrin has been named director of public relations for Clos du Val Winery and Goelet Wine Estates. She replaces Michaela Baltasar, who joined Jackson Wine Estates. She has managed public relations and corporate communications for Robert Mondavi Winery, Sutter Home Winery/Trinchero Family Estates and Domaine Chandon. She also will be based at Clos du Val Winery, and report to Debra Eagle, vice president of marketing for Clos du Val Winery and Goelet Wine Estates.

For more information about Goelet Wine Estates, visit goeletwineestates.com.