A young old mate of mine from Roseworthy College has just been shifted across the water from Auckland to the Clare Valley. Mark Robertson, one of the bright stars of the New Zealand wine industry, was the resident chief winemaker at Matua Valley when it was brought under the Beringer Blass umbrella. He has now risen fairly quickly up his new company’s totem pole, becoming the Beringer Blass Wine Estates Group White Winemaker, and Senior Winemaker for its Annie’s Lane label. Annie’s Lane is the company’s Clare Valley brand, whose usually reliable and affordable wines have lagged just a little behind other Beringer Blass brands in recent years. In this capacity Robertson inherits part of the role of Caroline Dunn, who recently became Senior Red Winemaker for Beringer Blass. I expect Robertson to go further, since he’s a very talented guy with loads of capacity. I also regard this as a very positive move for Beringer Blass, whose winemaking stocks are looking pretty handy these days.
