ESMÉ HOLDSWORTH

Winemaker

Born and raised in beautiful Nelson, Esmé’s passion for wine originally sparked from her love for artisan food after spending her summers at school and University working in restaurant kitchens.

After attending Otago University Esmé went on to earn a post graduate diploma in viticulture and oenology from Lincoln University. When a chance came to work at the Marlborough winery, Esmé leapt at it. ⠀ ⠀

Ask Esmé what she loves most about winemaking and she’ll say the blend of science and art. She loves that it’s such a team environment in every part of the business – from vineyard to logistics – it is essential to making great wine that people love to drink around the world.

STU MARFELL

Winemaker

Stu is our Chief Winemaker here at Grove Mill. As a nine year old, Stu was at the Vavasour winery for the first revelatory vintage of 1989 and caught the winemaking bug. A graduate of Lincoln University, Canterbury with a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology, Stu became our Chief Winemaker in 2007 and was a finalist at the 2008 & 2009 Young Winemaker of the Year Awards. In 2018 he was awarded Winemaker of the Show at the New Zealand International Wine Show 2018. Stu can often be found making coffee for the team and keeping them fuelled up – especially important for our native planting days in our wetland!

JULIANNA PATTERSON

ASSISTANT WINEMAKER

Jules is our Assistant Winemaker here at Grove Mill. Born and bred in Dunedin, Jules joined the Air Force before switching to pursue a career in winemaking and has never looked back. Her heart lies in the winery where she loves the science involved in crafting wine and seeing them make it into bottle. Jules has previously worked at Vavasour Wines as well as Cloudy Bay, Giesen, Sacred Hill and Wenzel Wines in Austria. A big fan of the outdoors, Jules joined the Grove Mill team in 2020. Equally passionate about nurturing our wetland, we were delighted to welcome her onto our team. Grove Mill Pinot Noir is Jules’s pick of the bunch because of its many layers and stunning floral flavours and aromas. When not spending time with her family, Jules is out riding her Yamaha YZ125x mixing it up with motocross racing and trail riding.

MAT DUNCAN

Viticulturist

Raised on an orchard with grapes, avocados and kiwifruit in Northern Hawkes Bay, a fortuitous move in 1994 lead Mat’s family to Marlborough to manage an up and coming Viticultural development. Mat has been involved in the wine industry ever since, and has been managing our vineyards since he began with the company in 2007. Since 2016 he has also taken on the role of Grower Liaison for Grove Mill and Vavasour. When Mat isn’t diligently working in the vineyards, you can find him out snow or water skiing, playing cricket, or enjoying time with his wife and three children.