Yalumba CEO Robert Hill Smith to step down
Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Yalumba's chief executive, Robert Hill Smith, is set to step down as the Australian wine group's chief executive after three decades in the role.
Yalumba said today (4 February) that Robert Hill Smith (pictured) will relinquish the CEO role from 7 March. However, he will remain at the wine group as chairman. The current chairman, Peter Barnes is set to retire.
Hill Smith, a fifth generation member of the family that founded Yalumba in 1849, was among the youngest chief executives in the Australian wine industry when he was appointed back in 1985. His tenure has coincided with Australia’s rise as a major wine exporter.
Barossa-based Yalumba produces around 2m cases of wine per year and one of its biggest export brands is Oxford Landing.
Nick Waterman will replace Hill Smith as CEO. Waterman left a career in software engineering to join Yalumba in 2002. In 2009, he became executive director for strategy and trading and, since mid-2014, he has been Yalumba’s chief operating officer.
Related Content:
- Australian wine needs ‘generational’ shift in attitudes, says trade body chair
- Hong Kong firm buys 650ha of Australian vineyards
Written by Chris Mercer
Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.
He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.
Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.
Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.