SONOMA COUNTY, Calif., (October 13, 2020) – Foley Family Wines is proud to announce that its Chief Marketing Officer, Gerard Thoukis has been nominated for the Wine Executive of the Year, Wine Star award by Wine Enthusiast magazine. The award highlights individuals that have made outstanding achievements over the past year in the wine and alcoholic beverage world.
Succeeding a family legacy, Gerard Thoukis was exposed to the wine industry at a very young age. His grandfather was a wine and spirits maker on the island of Cyprus, his father immigrated to the US to study winemaking at UC Davis and retired as the VP of winemaking for E. & J. Gallo after 45 years of service. Following their footsteps, Thoukis studied fermentation science at UC Davis and also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from University of Notre Dame before throwing himself into wine sales. His early career was spent with E. & J. Gallo leading teams in sales, marketing of both wine and spirits, and e-commerce. After 21 years of learning and success with E. & J. Gallo, Thoukis joined Foley Family Wines in 2017 as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Commercial Capability before assuming the role of Chief Marketing Officer in 2019.
At Foley Family Wines, Thoukis has been responsible for leading the strategy and execution of all aspects of consumer communication, new brand and product development, analytics, pricing, and go-to-market channel strategies. He is a member of the team who helped guide various acquisitions for Foley Family Wines over the past three years including Acrobat, Banshee, and most recently, Ferrari Carano. He has also been instrumental in the creation of new brand concepts including El Pino Club, a Pinot Noir focused brand sourced from world-renowned appellations, Headturner Wine Co., which is positioned around distinguished Washington winemaker Holly Turner, as well as various customer exclusive concepts for Foley Family Wines. His colleagues will tell you his greatest accomplishment is the positive, collaborative work culture he strives to establish. “I have been very fortunate to have a direct and positive impact on my current team members and former direct reports, many of whom are now executives at various wine and spirit companies,” says Thoukis. “With the help of my executive leadership team colleagues, our president, and the Foley family, I aim to make Foley Family Wines a great place to work where strategy, innovation, a customer and consumer mindset, along with striving for greatness every day are not only revered but expected.”
“Gerard’s contributions to Foley Family Wines have pushed the organization in the right direction,” says Foley Family Wines owner Bill Foley. “His leadership, innovation, industry knowledge and drive to succeed are what have helped elevate Foley Family Wines to be a leader in the luxury wine category.”
“I am extremely humbled to be nominated for this Wine Star award by such a prestigious magazine. To be recognized for the hard work my team and I have accomplished is a great honor,” says Thoukis.
About Foley Family Wines
Established by Bill Foley in 1996, Foley Family Wines is a portfolio of highly-acclaimed wines from some of the world’s greatest vineyards. Every brand in the company’s portfolio has a distinct style and legacy. Foley Family Wines owns the following properties in California: Ferrari-Carano (Sonoma County), Foley Sonoma (Geyserville), Chalone Vineyard (Monterey), Foley Estates (Sta. Rita Hills), Lincourt Vineyards (Solvang), Merus (Napa Valley), Foley Johnson (Napa Valley), Kuleto (Napa Valley), Chalk Hill (Sonoma County), Sebastiani (Sonoma County), Lancaster Estate (Sonoma County), Langtry Estate (Lake County), Firestone Vineyard (Santa Ynez Valley), Eos Winery (Paso Robles), Roth Estate Winery (Sonoma County) and Banshee (Sonoma County). In the Northwest, the company owns Three Rivers Winery (Walla Walla, Washington), Acrobat (Western Oregon), and The Four Graces (Dundee, Oregon). In New Zealand, the company owns Vavasour (Marlborough), Clifford Bay (Marlborough), Grove Mill (Marlborough), Dashwood (Marlborough), Martinborough Vineyard (Martinborough), Te Kairanga (Martinborough), and Mt. Difficulty (Bannockburn, Central Otago).
