- Zach Long named Chief Operations Officer
- Jenna Duran promoted to Vice President of Marketing
- Developing leadership within to further strategy and build bench strength
INCLINE VILLAGE, NV, January 12, 2023 – Vintage Wine Estates, Inc. (Nasdaq: VWE), a fast growing wine producer with an industry leading direct-to-customer platform, today announced two promotions that further its efforts to advance its leadership team, develop talent from within and build greater bench strength. Zach Long, previously Senior Vice President of Winemaking and Production, will now serve as Chief Operations Officer and Jenna Duran, formerly Senior Director of Marketing, has been appointed Vice President of Marketing.
Pat Roney, Chief Executive Officer, noted, “We have excellent talent within our organization, and Zach and Jenna have considerable experience in their respective areas of responsibility. These promotions both recognize their capabilities and leadership skills while also building out our management structure to support our strategy for growth.”
With over two decades in the winemaking industry, Zach Long joined VWE through the 2021 Kunde acquisition, where he served as Director of Winemaking for 11 years. Before joining Kunde, Zach held the role of Winemaker at Girard Winery. In addition to his wealth of industry insight acquired through working closely with Vintage affiliated wineries, growers and vendors, Mr. Long holds degrees in viticulture and enology from the University of California Davis (UC Davis) and a certification in viticulture from the University of Purpan in Toulouse, France. In his expanded role as Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Long assumes additional responsibility for all 14 estate wineries and two major wine production facilities in Hopland, California (Rays Station) and Cincinnati, Ohio (Meier’s Wine Cellars). Zach has full operational oversight for supply chain and production activities with a focus on quality, sustainability and enhancing synergies within VWE’s production footprint and serves on the Executive Leadership team.
An MBA graduate of Sonoma State Wine Business Institute with more than a decade of experience in the wine industry, Jenna Duran joined VWE’s marketing team with the Viansa acquisition in 2013, where she led marketing initiatives for all DTC channels including eCommerce, tasting rooms, direct mail, promotional products, and telephonic sales. In 2017, Ms. Duran transitioned to the wholesale business, assuming new responsibilities on the Exclusive Brands team. Her collaboration with senior management included driving innovation and new product development for major national accounts, including the fast growing Photograph Wines. Her responsibilities expanded to include brand marketing as Director of Lifestyle & Exclusive brands in 2019 and Central Coast brands in 2020. Ms. Duran also led marketing initiatives to launch Bar Dog wine nationally, supporting the growth of the brand to over 100,000 cases. Bar Dog is now Vintage’s fastest-growing brand, earning it an Impact Hot Prospect Award in 2021.
About Vintage Wine Estates:
Vintage Wine Estates (Nasdaq: VWE and VWEWW) is a family of wineries and wines whose singular focus is producing the finest quality wines and incredible customer experiences with wineries throughout Napa, Sonoma, California’s Central Coast, Oregon, and Washington State. Since its founding 20 years ago, the Company has grown to be the 14th largest wine producer in the U.S., selling more than two million nine-liter equivalent cases annually. To consistently drive growth, the Company curates, creates, stewards, and markets its many brands and services to customers and end consumers via a balanced omni-channel strategy encompassing direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and exclusive brand arrangements with national retailers. While VWE is diverse across price points and varietals with over 60 brands ranging from $10 to $150 USD at retail, its primary focus is on the fastest growing luxury segment of the wine industry with most brands selling at over $15 per bottle. The Company regularly posts updates and additional information at https://www.vintagewineestates.com/.
