New CEO for Wingara Wine Group
28th February 2008
Mr. Diego Jimenez has assumed the role as Chief Executive Officer for Wingara Wine Group, effective February 1st 2008. Diego is a member of the Ferrer family which owns Spain’s Freixenet Group - the majority shareholder of Wingara.
Founded by the Yunghanns family, Wingara is the parent company of leading Australian wine brands Deakin Estate, Katnook Estate, Katnook Founder’s Block, Riddoch and Crackerjack. Wingara produces 500 000 9L cases annually at its Deakin Estate winery in Red Cliffs, Victoria and Katnook Estate Winery in Coonawarra, South Australia.
In 2001, Freixenet purchased 75% of Wingara from the Yunghanns family. David Yunghanns has resigned as Chief Executive Officer to pursue other business interests. David’s passion and dedication to Wingara over the years has built a solid and resourceful enterprise.
Diego Jimenez brings a wealth of international market experience and innovation to the Wingara business. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an MBA from IESE, Spain. From 1997-2001, Diego was Managing Director of Freixenet USA, where he was instrumental in increasing Gloria Ferrer’s business. Later as Freixenet Business Development Manager, he played an important role in Freixenet’s acquisition of the group’s Rioja winery – Solar Viejo in 2004 and the assessment of other investment opportunities. From 2004-2007, Diego was the Director of Freixenet, Argentina.
Diego is now based at Wingara’s head office in South Melbourne and says of his new role “My intention is to consolidate the Wingara business domestically and grow through new product development and expanding export markets. When living in the US, I witnessed the professionalism and dynamism of the Australian Wine Industry. Now that I am involved on a day to day basis, I am impressed with Australian viticulture, winemaking and marketing and greatly look forward to working in the industry.”
Freixenet is the world’s largest producer of Méthode Traditionelle wines, producing over 10 million 9L cases a year.
