Pinot Noir Workshop speaker

2008 NZSVO workshop

Getting to grips with Pinot Noir - a look at Pinot Noir tannin management

Speaker Profile

Tony Hoksbergen

General Manager – Viticulture and Wineries, Pernod Ricard New Zealand

Tony Hoksbergen has overall responsibility for regional grape supply and winery operations for Pernod Ricard in most of the key viticultural regions of New Zealand. This encompasses both winery and vineyard activities in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, and Waipara as well as grape supply from Central Otago.

Working closely with the Chief Winemaker and his team which includes the National Vineyards Manager, the National Wineries Manager and the Grower Relations Manager, they develop and oversee strategies which drive regional growth and production excellence in terms of winery processing, grape quality, productivity and sustainability.

An important part of the role is ensuring production systems are in place which align with international best practice while, at the same time, satisfying the winemakers’ stringent demands for quality.

With a huge premium and super premium brand portfolio, “we have a strategy in place for each of our wine-producing regions in terms of the end use we’re targeting,” explains Tony. With the strong international demand for New Zealand’s world-acclaimed signature wine, Sauvignon Blanc, expected to continue, and with increasing global interest in our Pinot Noir brands, much of the activity is focused on growth in grape supply through both grower and company vineyards and the concomitant increase in winery processing capacity to accommodate this growth.

Tony’s first exposure to the wine industry came as a technician for the virology department at the DSIR in Mt Albert where he was involved in research projects focusing on the spread of leafroll virus. This was followed by a four year stint working for Penfolds Wines (NZ), first as nursery manager and then as field officer in Marlborough. He then joined Montana in 1983 as a field officer in Gisborne, later becoming Montana’s Marlborough vineyards manager before being appointed as General Manager – Viticulture, a position he held for 15 years. In September 2007, he was appointed as General Manager Viticulture and Wineries. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree (Viticulture) from Charles Sturt University in Australia.