Winemakers
Accolade Wines has some of the most highly awarded winemakers at its helm who have excelled in their field for many decades. Worldly experience, attention to detail, passion and commitment combine to ensure all our wines – from everyday drinking to the very best of what we have to offer – are treated with care and respect. It is through our winemakers that we bring you the diverse styles and varietals that shine in New World climes.
Ari MervisExecutive Chairman
Ari has an established track record as a senior executive in the global beverage industry spanning more than 30 years, including over 25 years with leading brewer SABMiller, during which time he spent nine years as Managing Director, Asia Pacific, five of which were also as CEO of Foster’s. Most recently, Ari was CEO and MD of Australia’s largest dairy processor, ASX listed Murray Goulburn.
Ari has a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Economics, Commercial Law and Marketing.
He is passionate about driving top line growth and maximising return to all stakeholders in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.
Ari has a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Economics, Commercial Law and Marketing.
He is passionate about driving top line growth and maximising return to all stakeholders in a sustainable and socially responsible manner.
Our head winemakers have a collective experience of over 200 years in winemaking.
That’s 200 vintages worth of blood, sweat and tears...
eyeballing 20 billion grapes...
tasting over 500,000 wines...
inspecting 400,000 barrels of wine...
and downing enough coffee to keep the world awake for 50 years!
Head Winemakers
Nigel Sneyd
Director of Global Wine, Quality and Compliance
Profile
Nigel Sneyd
Director of Global Wine, Quality and Compliance
Nigel started working in wine at just seventeen years of age and never looked back. He completed his first Oenology degree at Charles Sturt University in Australia and his second at the Université de Dijon in France where he obtained his Diplôme National d'Oenologue as Dux of his year.
His time in France also allowed him to complete internships at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy, Champagne Krug and INRA, as well as to become fluent in French.
He worked as winemaker for Evans and Tate in Western Australia and then managed the AWRI's Extension and Advisory Services while simultaneously working with Tony Laithwaite’s Flying Winemakers programme in France during its nascent years.
He completed his MBA from Monash University before settling in France, firstly as director of BRL Hardy's Domaine de la Baume and later as director of a negociant business specialising in high-end appellation wines from the Languedoc.
Twelve years ago he moved to London to join E&J Gallo's International Winemaking group and relocated to California in 2015 to take up the position of Director of Winemaking. His responsibilities exposed him to winemaking in Italy, Spain, Germany, South Africa, California, Argentina and New Zealand.
In October 2019 he returned to Australia as Global Director of Wine, Quality and Compliance for Accolade Wines.
Ed Carr
Chief Sparkling Winemaker
Profile
Ed Carr
Chief Sparkling Winemaker
Ed Carr is Australia’s most decorated sparkling winemaker and the key figure behind our multi award-winning House of Arras brand.
He has amassed over 60 trophies for the House of Arras, and on two occasions has been awarded Winemaker of the Year, receiving the Gourmet Traveller Wine accolade in 2011 and more recently in 2015 from the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology.
Craig Stansborough
Group Premium Winemaker
Profile
Craig Stansborough
Group Premium Winemaker
Born in Gawler, on the edge of the Barossa Valley, Craig grew up with the wine industry around him. He started as a cellar hand with B Seppelt & Son in 1983, firstly at Chateau Tanunda and then later at Seppeltsfield.
Craig joined Grant Burge Wines in 1993 as Cellar Manager and was soon promoted to assistant Winemaker in 1994, Winemaker in 1995 and Senior Winemaker in 1997. His meteoric rise through the company can be attributed to his enormous talents, leadership, inquisitive mind, and his unrelenting passion for winemaking.
While he is passionate about the big full-bodied red wines for which the Barossa is famous, he also believes the region offers an opportunity for creative winemakers to make top quality elegant wines.
Cleighten Cornelius
Senior Winemaker, New Zealand
Profile
Cleighten Cornelius
Senior Winemaker, New Zealand
Like many Kiwis, when he was younger Cleighten chose to travel to Europe during his gap year. It was only fitting that when he returned to New Zealand, he chose a career which would ensure more travel in the future.
After university he again set off to the northern hemisphere to work vintages in France (Chambolle-Musigny), Germany (Rheingau) and Cyprus.
Gerhard Swart
Head Winemaker, South Africa
Profile
Gerhard Swart
Head Winemaker, South Africa
Gerhard comes from a family of farmers in the Overberg region and a career in agriculture was a natural fit for him. He first joined us in 2007 to lead on bulk wine exports for our Kumala brand. With the acquisition of Flagstone Winery in February 2008, he itched to get his hands dirty in the cellar again, so he stepped into the vacancy of Winemaker and ever since contributed to the success of Flagstone Winery.
In 2014 Gerhard became the Head Winemaker of the South African portfolio, overseeing the quality of all the South African produced wines. He still remains the winemaker for Flagstone and making world class Flagstone wines remains his true passion. Gerhard believes that making great wine needs total commitment and dedication and incredible attention to detail.
Winemakers
Michael Symons
Stonier Winemaker
Profile
Michael Symons
Stonier Winemaker
Mike began his wine career at Petaluma Winery in late 1989 under the guidance of Brian Croser. Since then he has travelled, studied and worked extensively overseas, including three years in Italy with the famous Antinori family.
Since 2008 Mike has been at Stonier, where his focus is on taking the legacy of Stonier on its evolutionary journey with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Mike’s winemaking philosophy is founded on two principles. First, achieve a natural balance in the vineyards, and second, allow the wine's flavours developed in the vineyard to flourish with minimal intervention in the winery.Mike Mudge
Petaluma Winemaker
Profile
Mike Mudge
Petaluma Winemaker
Adelaide Hills born and bred, Mike graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree whilst working at the Petaluma winery in the early 1990s. He developed his passion for wine whilst working vintage in Oregon in 1995 and on his return home undertook his degree in Oenology at Charles Sturt University.
Mike was the Sparkling Winemaker for Croser from 2000 and in 2005 was promoted to Petaluma Winemaker in 2005, then Winemaker/Manager in 2010. He was instrumental in the build and transition of Petaluma to its new state of the art winery at Woodside in 2014.
Now in his 30th year at Petaluma he brings a breadth of experience and knowledge in all facets of the business from vine to glass. Mike has been blessed with exceptional vineyards that display the true expression of the varieties that Petaluma produces.
Courtney Treacher
Profile
Courtney Treacher
Travelling through wine regions on family vacations, combined with a keen sense of building a career with a difference, led Courtney to the decision in the latter years at secondary school that winemaking was for her. She has worked with fruit sourced from all of the major viticultural regions of Western Australia, making wines from premium handpicked fruit. Courtney has also been involved in wine show judging at the Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne Royal Wine Shows, and was a scholar at the prestigious Len Evans Tutorial in 2011.
Helen McCarthyr
Profile
Helen McCarthy
Helen was born in England and moved with her family to Australia in 1988.
In 1997 she took a leap of faith and enrolled in a winemaking degree at the University of Adelaide. On completion of her degree she set about gaining invaluable experience with wineries such as Lindemans, Wynns, Seppelts and Penfolds.
In 2003 Helen’s passion for Riesling saw her make a move to work in Clare Valley. During her time at Taylors Wines she was awarded the Gourmet Traveller Kemeny’s Medal for Young Winemaker of the Year and was awarded People’s Choice Wine Society Young Winemaker of the year. She also won a scholarship to participate in the prestigious Len Evans Tutorial and was part of the Wine Industry Future Leaders Program. She also commenced a wine judging career that has seen Helen be involved in countless numbers of wine shows.
The calling of the Barossa became too strong and saw Helen return to a Barossa winery at the end of 2011. It was during her time at Thorn-Clarke Wines that Helen’s passion for the Barossa but particularly Eden Valley was cemented. While working at Thorn-Clarke Helen was awarded both the Peer and Consumer The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year. Many of her wines were recognised both domestically and internationally. Helen also completed a Master of Business Administration in Sustainable Business during this period.
In 2015 Helen became the custodian of the Eden Valley icon Mountadam Vineyards. Her passion for Eden Valley was again deepened.
Helen joined St Hallett Wines in 2019 and is looking forward to working with fruit grown all over the Barossa but is particularly excited to once again to be working with Eden Valley fruit.
Nic Bowen
Profile
Nic Bowen
Born into a well-known WA winemaking family, Nic spent most of his free time growing up in the cellars and vineyards of the estates that his father managed. After undertaking a vintage in Bordeaux, France; he returned to Australia to study winemaking at Curtin University of Technology.
Having gained experience at wineries such as Capel Vale, Willow Bridge Estate, Houghton, Chateau La Garde, Chateau Serame & Chateau Pey la tour, Nic accepted the position as winemaker at Accolade Wines for Starve Dog Lane and Yarra Burn wines.
In 2019, Nic was promoted to Hardys Senior Winemaker, overseeing one of the most awarded and revered winemaking portfolios in the country.
Paul Burnett
Profile
Paul Burnett
After graduating in Oenology at Adelaide University, in his early twenties Paul began working at Loxton winemaking and in the same year travelled to the USA and Italy; quickly falling in love with wine by supervising the harvest of grapes.
In 2005, Paul joined the Berri Estates business as an Assistant Winemaker, gaining experience in red wine and undertaking a sabbatical in Blackstone winery, California, where he expanded his winemaking knowledge on the wine fermentation process and the importance of vineyard selection. Returning to Australia, Paul took up a role as a red & fortified winemaker, honing his craft and further developing his passion for winemaking.
Over the years Paul has worked with many well-known wine industry leaders and held numerous roles including Brand Ambassador & Winemaker for Banrock Station, launching the brand into Canada and China, sharing the brands unique environmental positioning and viticulture practices with regions across the globe. Paul’s passion for what he does is infectious and he is continuously sharing his knowledge and passion at customer tastings, and with visitors coming to the Wetland Centre.
In 2019, Paul was promoted to Senior Winemaker Berri Estates, where he has oversight for one of the largest wine production facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. Paul aims to create the finest wines possible from the immense sourcing of Riverland fruit and is looking forward to continuing to build on his vast experience and continue to craft Hardy's wines for consumers across the globe.
Penny Jones
Profile
Penny Jones
Born and bred in Hobart, Tasmania, passion for food and wine has always been in Penny’s blood. After graduating as Dux of Oenology in 2004 at Adelaide University, Penny stayed on in the Adelaide Hills for nine and a half years to work her way through the ranks to Winemaker at Petaluma winery. Penny returned to her home state of Tasmania and is now focusing her passion for cool climate wines as winemaker for Bay of Fires.
Natalie Cleghorn
Profile
Natalie Cleghorn
Senior Winemaker
Natalie, who has been making award-winning wines from the fabled Coonawarra region for more than 10 years, has joined one of the world’s leading team of winemakers at Accolade Wines, becoming the fourth female Senior Winemaker on the team.
Viticulturists
Samantha Scarratt
Director, Grape Supply
Profile
Samantha Scarratt
Director, Grape Supply
Sam is responsible for all viticulture and grape sourcing for Accolade Wines in ANZ, and has proven success in leading and developing viticulture operations across planning, sourcing, growing and delivery of grapes.
Sam joined us from Lion, where she has spent 11 years working in New Zealand, most recently as viticulturist and viticulture operations manager. Sam has also taken an active role in viticulture in New Zealand, guest lecturing on viticulture at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, sitting on their grape and wine advisory committee and on the New Zealand Winegrowers research committee.