Vintage Wine Estates, Inc. Announces Chief Operating Officer Succession Plan

Russell G. Joy to be appointed Chief Operating Officer effective November 1, 2021

SANTA ROSA, Calif., Sept. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vintage Wine Estates, Inc. (NASDAQ: VWE) (TSX: VWE.U) (TSX: VWE.WT.U) (“VWE” or the “Company”), one of the fastest growing U.S. wine producers with an industry leading direct-to-customer platform, today announced the succession plan for its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Russell G. Joy, who brings over 20 years of wine industry experience spanning finance and operations, will be appointed COO effective November 1, 2021, succeeding Jeff Nicholson, who will retire from the Company effective October 29, 2021.

Mr. Joy has held key roles in the wine industry most recently as General Manager of Napa Wine Company where he managed the upgrading of its facility while leading a culture change. Previous to that role, he was vice president of California operations for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates which had acquired Patz & Hall Wine Company where Mr. Joy had held the position of CEO, president and general manager for eleven years from the startup of the business. He joined the wine industry as controller for Allied Domecq Wines then moved on to become chief financial officer of Sebastiani Vineyards, Inc and subsequently joined Viansa Winery as CFO and president. He began his career as a CPA with Touche Ross & Co, now known as Deloitte.   

Pat Roney, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vintage Wine Estates, Inc., commented, “Russ has a strong track record of execution and proven leadership skills that I expect to prove valuable as we continue to execute our strategy for growth. He brings extensive operating and finance experience to the team that should prove beneficial as well for our transition into the public reporting realm. These are exciting times at VWE as we execute our plans to drive growth by leveraging our differentiated, business model encompassing three channel-to-market platforms.”

He concluded, “Jeff joined us in 2019 to help us drive greater scalability and ultimately prepare us for our transition to a public company. He was instrumental in the successful expansion of our bottling line and warehousing capacity as well as effectively meeting the surge in demand we realized from both our direct-to-consumer and private label businesses these past nearly two and a half years. We look forward to Jeff’s continued contributions in support of special projects.”