US wine group The Duckhorn Portfolio has made three senior leadership appointments, naming a new CMO, COO and CSO.
Gallo veteran Paul Passaro begins his role as CSO today (5 October), replacing Enrique Morgan. He joins the group from O’Neill Vintners & Distillers, where he spent three and a half years as head of sales.
Prior to joining O’Neill, Passaro (below) spent just under 18 years at Gallo, working up from retail state manager to sales director of luxury in the ‘Western US’ region.
New CMO Chanel Caplan is the first of two internal promotions at the California-headquartered wine group, having joined as SVP brand management of the company’s ‘premium brands’ division in February last year. Prior to that, she spent five years as president of RTD mark Rancho La Gloria at Patco Brands. She has also worked at Campari Group and Constellation Brands, and was a media studies lecturer at UC Berkeley.
Caplan (below) began her new role on Friday (30 September).
From 1 February, PJ Alviso will succeed Zach Rasmuson as COO. Alviso (below) joined the company in 2007 as an assistant vineyard manager and has worked up to SVP of Duckhorn portfolio operations. He described Rasmuson, who has been COO since 2012 and will continue in the role during the transition period, as his “long-time mentor”.
“As we wrap up our 50th anniversary this year, we are thrilled to welcome Paul and to congratulate Chanel and PJ as they step into their new roles,” said The Duckhorn Portfolio CEO Robert Hanson. “Together, these appointments bring the right combination of fresh perspective, deep institutional knowledge, and proven leadership to our executive team as we enter our next phase of growth.
“Our goal is to be the undisputed leader in American luxury wine, and I am confident that these leaders will be instrumental in helping us achieve that ambition.”
The moves follow the appointments of Nihar Bhatt as Duckhorn’s next CFO and Jeff Ngo as chief growth officer last year.
