Santa Rita appoints new winegrowing director and marketing lead

South American wine giant Santa Rita Estates has made two new appointments to its team of directors.

Francisca Muñiz has been hired as corporate marketing director, while current marketing boss Jaime de la Barra as moved on to become the company’s winegrowing director. Both have moved to their new roles with immediate effect.

La Barra will now take charge of the winemaking and viticulture areas of Santa Rita Estates, both in Chile and Argentina. He joined Santa Rita in 2011 in the Continental European sales division, and was later made Regional Director of the same area. In December 2014, he was named Corporate Marketing Director, overseeing all brands of the Santa Rita Estates group: Santa Rita, Carmen, Doña Paula and Sur Andino.

During his time as corporate marketing director, Santa Rita said le Barra “made a significant impact on global consumer perception in major markets.”

“From this new position as winegrowing director, he hopes to further build on his knowledge and understanding of each terroir in order to produce great wines.”

Muñiz previously held the role of tourism director at Santa Rita, and has worked for the wine group for 15 years.

Her first role within the company was Brand Manager for Chile. In 2011, she took over the newly created tourism division, developing a previously unchartered area of the company. She played a key role in Santa Rita’s development of a winery visitor experience, which now offers tours, as well as the reopening of Hotel Casa Real.