Paragon Wine Estates on the road to luxury

When Endeavour Group acquired Josef Chromy Wines at the end of April, General Manager of the Tasmanian winery, Shaine De Venny moved with it, appointed Head of Paragon Wine Estates - Endeavour Group’s fine wine portfolio.

Ms De Venny has been in the role for one month now, tasked with growing the premium wine business and the luxury consumer experiences that the Paragon Wine Estates' portfolio can offer.

Luxury is a comfortable place for Ms De Venny.

 “Luxury for me is all about creating authentic connections and that starts with a passion for telling our unique stories. The estates and brands within Paragon have rich legacies that continue to inspire the people that work within them and build loyalty with consumers who love to enjoy them,” says Ms De Venny.

“I want people to visit our estates, experience the warmth and generosity of our hospitality and build that connection. Underpinning that must be an uncompromising commitment to quality in everything we do and that is the mindset that I hope to foster and champion.”

In 2018, the former Estate Director for Chandon Australia spearheaded Domaine Chandon’s $2m cellar door makeover to entice bubble loving millennial daytrippers to the Yarra Valley and to improve the flow through of the 250K annual visitors to the cellar door. It meant changing the mindset of the business to identify itself as less as a winery and one more focused on hospitality.

The Chandon space was completely re-imagined - manicured gardens, private tasting rooms, instagrammable opportunities - all with a view to creating unforgettable experiences for the consumer and building the on the ground DTC sales channel.

At Paragon, Ms De Venny says, “The team and I will continue to draw on the rich heritage, depth of wine making experience and spirit of innovation to craft wines of expressive distinction, bringing to life a dynamic vision and ambition.”

This includes driving the wholesale, on-premise and those DTC sales channels, as well as developing influencer engagement programs with a view to deepening connections with customers and increasing consumer engagement.

Ms De Venny also has team of multiple stakeholders to bring together.

She says, “There are multiple stakeholders within finance, marketing, winemaking, viticulture and production, whose collaborative efforts support our expansion ambition. So, establishing that culture of unity is critical to our success.”

Ms De Venny returned from Asia in 2016 to become Estate Director of Chandon Australia, described by her as “one of the country’s most exceptional winemaking operations”.

Prior to that she had spent over 10 years leading joint venture operations for Moët Hennessy and Diageo and says she is well placed for the new task at hand.

 “I believe this broad experience across business acceleration, value creation and operational estate oversight has been the perfect lead-in to this role,” she says.

Ms De Venny will also be developing brand awareness and supporting growth in export markets for Endeavour’s premium wine portfolio.

She and her team have much to do. Paragon’s regional coverage now includes Oakridge Wines (Yarra Valley), Chapel Hill (McLaren Vale), Isabel Estate (Marlborough, NZ); Krondorf (Barossa Valley), Riddoch (Coonawarra) and Josef Chromy Wines (Tasmania) with the business continuing to seek opportunities that align with its growth strategy, particularly in the Margaret River which is absent from the current portfolio.