The Wonderful Company names Chris Avery president of wine

The Wonderful Company has named Chris Avery president of its wine business, effective 5 October, putting him in charge of JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, Landmark Vineyards and Lewis Cellars.

Avery is currently chief executive of Shafer Vineyards, a role he leaves for the new post. The Wonderful Company, the Los Angeles-based conglomerate behind Fiji Water and Pom Wonderful, has been building out its wine leadership through a run of senior hires this year.

His résumé reads like a map of Napa itself: more than 20 years across Shafer, Darioush, DAOU Family Estates, Patrimony Estate, Opus One and Jordan Vineyard & Winery, in roles spanning operations, global sales, marketing, hospitality and direct-to-consumer.

Twenty years across Napa's biggest names, and now three brands under one roof.

What the job actually covers

JUSTIN, Landmark and Lewis Cellars sell into different tiers of the market and different geographies, from Paso Robles to Sonoma to Napa, which is the point of hiring someone who has worked sales and operations rather than only winemaking. Avery's brief is brand-building and long-term positioning across all three, not running a single cellar.

The appointment continues a pattern of executive turnover across Napa's luxury tier this year, as wineries compete for a shrinking pool of people who have run a premium label from the vineyard through to the tasting room.

A market short of good news

The move lands at a difficult moment for French and wider European production: this year's French wine harvest is heading for its smallest crop since 1957, a shortage that is already pushing some buyers toward New World labels. For a company the size of Wonderful, adding depth to its wine leadership now is as much a bet on capturing that shift as it is on any single vintage.

The three wineries currently run separate sales and hospitality teams. Whether Avery folds any of that structure together, or keeps the labels running on parallel tracks, is one of the first questions his new colleagues are asking.

The Wonderful Company has not said whether Avery's arrival will bring changes to the three wineries' distribution or pricing.