CEO
Robert Watkins brings more than 20 years of wine industry experience to his role as CEO at Mt Beautiful, placing him in an ideal position to build on Mt Beautiful’s reputation as a premium wine brand, drive growth plans and further develop the North Canterbury region.
Most recently Robert was a founding partner and Chief Operating Officer of Longboard Vineyards, an entrepreneurial vineyard and wine business. Under their tenure the founding partners expanded the brand into 20 states and 3 countries and identified opportunities to branch into warehousing, tasting rooms, custom crush operations and exporting.
Prior to Longboard, Robert held a range of executive positions including VP Sales & Marketing at J Vineyards (Sonoma), National Sales Manager & Export director at Trefethen Vineyards (Napa), East coast sales and export manager at King Estate (Oregon) and East coast sales manager at Mantanzas Creek (Sonoma). In addition Robert has started a boutique fine wine Distributor in Northern California, Canopy Wine Group, to assist small wineries with distribution in the US market.
Joining the team in late 2010, Robert is CEO of Mt Beautiful Wines, Mt Beautiful USA, and Teece Family Vineyards and farming operation. Robert splits his time between New Zealand and San Francisco with worldwide responsibility for all facets of Teece Family Vineyards and Mt Beautiful brands.