Villa Maria names new chief winemaker

Villa Maria has promoted Nick Picone to the post of group chief winemaker following the departure of Alastair Maling MW.

Nick Picone

Picone has already spent 18 years working across various regions and brands within the New Zealand producer’s business, which in addition to its Villa Maria flagship includes Vidal Estate, Esk Valley, Te Awa Collection and Thornbury.

After growing up in Hawke’s Bay, Picone took his first wine job at Esk Valley before moving to first Marlborough and then Auckland, where he oversaw the group’s winemaking operations in this region, as well as Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.

Picone has also spent time outside New Zealand, spending time with Villa Maria’s UK distributor Hatch Mansfield, working a vintage at GD Vajra in Barolo and completing two harvests at DeLoach Vineyards in California.

His new role is effective from 1 July when Maling moves on after 12 years to take up a post as chief group winemaker and head of viticulture for Foley Family Vineyards. 

Announcing Picone’s appointment, Villa Maria CEO Sir George Fistonich commented: “Nick is an extremely talented winemaker with an exceptional palate and has demonstrated a natural ability with wine right from the start of his career. Fostering talent in our industry is something I’m passionate about and I’m proud to have seen Nick develop his skills over the years working in all of our winemaking regions.

“Throughout our 54 year history my focus has always been on creating the highest quality wines and we’ve achieved this through the selection of the best vineyard sites, but also seeking out the very best people and Nick is without a doubt one of the New Zealand wine industry’s shining stars.”