The Bunch

Michael Henley – Chair

The guy in charge, Mike takes the reins of the bunch steering us to success. Working in the local bottle store to help fund his university lifestyle meant an early love story for all things Pinot! The chance to attend the Steamboat Pinot Noir conference in Oregon opened his eyes to the pain and pleasure associated with this grape. Having spent the first years of his career travelling and working vintages in South Africa, California, Marlborough, Oregon, Barossa Valley and Spain, Mike‘s back in Sunny Hawke’s Bay living the good life. Many hats adorn his head working with New Zealand Winegrowers and Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers as well as his own businesses, 495 Wine select and Cellar 495. Mike brings a breadth of experience and passion to craft the best Pinot experience yet!

Paul Donaldson

Part of the Donaldson Bros Gang, owners of Pegasus Bay in North Canterbury. Paul is the baby in the family, so in order to survive he mastered the art of subterfuge, quick-wittedness and disguise. All hotels within a 600km radius have been given fair warning, but only because this family is truly hospitable and generous. Ironically Paul’s first real foray into the world of Pinot came when he was not working in the industry, but living in Wellington and limiting himself to beer. He got the opportunity to attend some night functions at the Pinot NZ 2001 conference, and well…. It was love at first sight. Bringing local knowledge and genuine relationships to the team, Paul will be helping get places, people and most importantly, Pinot where they need to be.

Anna Flowerday

A 6th generation winegrower who first fell in love with Pinot whilst working with fruit from the Yarra Valley & Tasmania, wherever she went next, Anna knew Pinot had to be a part of the plan. Luckily, she married a kiwi bloke from Marlborough who lured her to Aotearoa with the promise of their own winery. Anna’s day job is Winemaker/GM of Te Whare Ra Wines where she does the glamorous, and not so glamorous jobs! A previous board member at Wine Marlborough and co-founder of Marlborough’s Pinot Bootcamp – Anna loves being part of taking NZ Wine to the world. Anna is part of the program team for Pinot NZ 25, who are tasked with whittling 8 years of possible content into 3 days! She is super excited about welcoming the world back to NZ and spreading the good word about NZ Pinot Noir.

Philippa Fourbet

Philippa’s Pinot love began from her upbringing in Otago and tasting numerous gorgeous Pinot Noirs from the region over the years. She loved NZ Pinot so much she decided she’d buy a vineyard sight unseen in New Zealand (largely to avoid being an old lady in Europe). That was in 2010 – needless to say she’s learnt quite a lot since then and even returned to NZ before reaching her dotage. Philippa juggles directing proceedings at Domaine Rewa, twin boys, PA for her husband The French Potters business and has a full time job in finance. Amongst all, she joins the team with great passion to work with our sponsors and our invaluable industry partners. She is honoured to be part of this ambitious, talented, driven and diverse industry embodied in the Pinot Noir 2025 event.

Natalie Grace

We lost this southern lass and Marketing diehard to the bright lights across the ditch for a while there, but as all good Kiwis know, home is where the heart is. Home now for Natalie is amongst the sun, wines and vines of Te Matau-a-Māui, Hawke’s Bay, where she’s taken the hefty reins of Brand and Marketing Manager for Pyramid Valley, Smith & Sheth and Lowburn Ferry.  She can spot a typo a mile away, loves a bit of comma overuse and firmly believes that you can tell the best stories with 500 words instead of 50. She’s the Riesling grape of the bunch – a fine eye for detail and (when she wants to be) can be the sweetest of styles.

Alistair King

The accountant in the line-up (partner in firm Findex), Alistair is like a forensic side-kick to a winemaker’s spending. Guaranteeing cost effectiveness while still delivering quality vino is the tightrope wire of his daily life. He’s up for the challenge though, shrugging off any mutterings of ‘grinch’. He’s the grape that while not as glamorous as some others, actually makes life palatable, possible and because of his genuine charm, quite delicious.

Ben Leen

Ben has been living and breathing Pinot Noir since settling in Central Otago in 2014. He first fell in love with grapes whilst on his OE in the Beaujolais region of France. Upon his return to NZ, a career change was in order and a degree at Lincoln University set him on course for his journey into wine. Ben is now currently a Winemaker at Amisfield and has had strong involvement in the Central Otago wine community. Ben is a huge proponent for nurturing the future generation of winemakers, being a key member of both Regional and National Young Winemaker committees. Ben is part of the program team for Pinot NZ 2025 and he is loving the challenge of putting together a blockbuster 3 days of Pinot content. He is super pumped to invite the Pinot-loving world back to NZ for one huge celebration of NZ Pinot Noir.

Helen Morrison

Having worked in the industry for 20 years including work on both the Sauvignon Blanc Celebration in 2019 and Organic Winegrowers, Helen brings a wealth of experience to Pinot team. During her previous 9 years at Villa Maria, she was responsible for creating award-winning wines that achieved global recognition. As Chief Winemaker for Booster Wine Group, she is leading the winemaking team and craft exceptional Pinot Noir wines that showcase brands across multiple regions of New Zealand, including BannockBrae from Central Otago, Awatere River in Marlborough and Sileni in Hawkes Bay. Whenever Helen can sneak away from work, she can be found somewhere in the mountains, either hiking with her dog Dita, or ski-touring to remote alpine areas to find fresh untracked powder.

Charlotte Read

Daughter of one of the early grape growers in Hawkes Bay, Charlotte has always felt a deep connection to those early days being on Dad’s lap on the tractor, and later fell in love with the product of all that hard work in the vineyard. After completing her WSET Diploma, Charlotte got the best of both worlds and combined a love of wine with her career and for the last 20 years has represented the New Zealand wine industry across its many export markets spanning the UK to Asia (with lots in between) telling the story of what makes us altogether unique. Whilst based in the UK, Charlotte gave the Master of Wine exam a few good nudges and experienced just how sublime and ethereal great Pinot Noir can be. She has nothing but pride in the amazing achievements of New Zealand’s Pinot Noir producers with regional typicity shining brightly! Charlotte now heads the Brand team at New Zealand Winegrowers helping to protect and strengthen the premium reputation of the NZ Wine brand.

Venita Simcox

As Marketing Manager for Craggy Range and with WSET and Court of Master Somms credentials under her belt, Venita has come a long way from the keenly honed Bernadino palette she established back in Taranaki. All it took was a few hard years spent alternating summers between St Barths and the Med on a superyacht (and a very generous boss) for her to discover there was something pretty special about the wines she was serving each night. Thankfully for us, Vee chose Hawke’s Bay wine country over ‘Below Deck’ and hasn’t looked back since. With a background in graphic design, a knack for problem-solving and a love for all things grammar, Vee’s marketing skills will give ChatGPT a run for its money.

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