Robert Watkins brings more than 30 years of wine industry experience to his role as CEO at Mt. Beautiful, placing him in an ideal position to build on Mt. Beautiful’s reputation as a premium wine brand, drive growth plans and further develop the North Canterbury region. Robert is involved in all wine making, vineyard and farm operations in addition to being on the wine blending team and harvest management

Joining the team in late 2010, Robert is CEO of Mt. Beautiful Winery, Mt. Beautiful USA, and Teece Family Vineyards and farming operation. Initially brought in to get the winery’s US operations up and running, Robert quickly found his role expanding. “There was zero US distribution,” he recalls, “but also there wasn’t yet a viable farm business, we didn’t have the winery built, we needed to plant more vineyards, and David Teece had – and continues to have – many more ideas to explore and plans to implement, such as our new tasting room in Cheviot, underground barrel hall and our recently completed guest lodge.

Prior to joining Mt. Beautiful, Robert was a founding partner and COO of Longboard Vineyards, an entrepreneurial vineyard and wine business. He has also held a range of executive positions including VP of Sales & Marketing at J Vineyards (Sonoma), National Sales Manager at Trefethen Vineyards (Napa), East Coast Sales manager at King Estate (Oregon) and East Coast Sales Manager at Mantanzas Creek (Sonoma). Robert Started his wine career in the mid-Atlantic region working in Maryland and DC with the Kronheim company and Bacchus importers.

Today, Robert splits his time between New Zealand and Lake Tahoe with worldwide responsibility for all facets of Teece Family Vineyards and Mt. Beautiful brands. He relishes the opportunity to work on this diverse and expanding array of projects while still doing the wine brand work, he knows and loves. Robert’s personal interests include sailing, adventure motorbike riding, oil painting and commercial cinematography just to name a few. Robert also is a collector and restorer of old Land Rovers both in NZ and the US.