Mirabeau expands team with three directors

By Lisa Riley

Published: 23 January, 2020

Mirabeau has expanded its team with three new directors to drive its expansion into new markets.

The British owned, French-based rosé producer has appointed lex Ignatieff as brand director of gin; Mathieu Vanhalst as sales director Europe South/speciality markets and Udo Koschinski as sales director Europe North.

Ignatieff, who has enjoyed a long career in the Australian and UK wine industry, will oversee all production aspects of Mirabeau’s recently launched Rosé Gin and manage its international launch and development.

Vanhalst will cover the expansion of Mirabeau in the following markets: France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, the Middle East, Russia and Global Travel Retail.

He joins the family-run business, founded in 2010 by British winemakers Stephen and Jeany Cronk, from Vinexpo where he spent five years as sales director.

Joining from Treasury Wine Estates, Koschinski will cover Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the Baltics and the Netherlands.

The new sales director positions reflected Mirabeau’s commitment to “deepening our relationships with key on and off-trade customers in several important markets”, said the Provence producer.

“We are very excited that we have managed to attract three talented individuals to the Mirabeau business, following on from our other key appointments of last year,” said Stephen Cronk, co-founder of Mirabeau.

The business was now looking forward to offering its “important and valued clients more focused support and personalised service”, he added.

The recruitment drive follows the appointment of former Tesco buyer Rob Dixon as head of retail UK and Ireland in December, while in November Mirabeau announced it had acquired a 20ha estate near La Garde-Freinet, in the commune of the Golfe de Saint-Tropez.

In its first foray into spirits, the business launched Mirabeau Rosé Gin exclusively into Waitrose at the beginning of this month.

The Mirabeau range of rosé wines are now being sold in 50 countries and in the UK is available from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Bibendum and Matthew Clark.

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