Viñedos Familia Chadwick appoints new UK Director

Viñedos Familia Chadwick has announced Georgina Crawley to the position of UK director in order to grow the business across merchants and retailers.

The news from the Chilean producer, which was announced by Eduardo Chadwick of Chadwick Family Estates (Chile) and Patrick McGrath MW of Hatch Mansfield, will see Crawley become part of James Manson’s regional sales team.

Crawley comes with 25 years of experience in the trade, including as sales director at Justerini & Brooks before joining GoedhuisWaddesdon in 2014 where she focused on the company’s strategic growth, innovation and buying, as business development director.

Her portfolio will include the flagship wines from Viñedos Familia Chadwick: Seña, Don Maximiano, Kai, Le Cumbre, Las Pizarras and Viñedo Chadwick.

Patrick McGrath, CEO, Hatch Mansfield, said he was “delighted” that Crawley was taking up the “crucial new position”.

Immensely talented

He said: “I enjoyed collaborating for over nine years with Georgie in her previous role, developing and growing the Hatch brands within the private client market.

“Georgie is immensely talented, holds a deep commercial understanding of the wine industry and has a real passion for Fine Wines. She has always advocated the achievements of Eduardo and his wines, becoming a good friend of him, and his daughter Pepa, who is also part of the Hatch Fine Wine sales team. Georgie is therefore the perfect choice to champion these very special wines. I am very excited she is now part of our team.”

Crawley, who takes up the role on 15 April, said she was “extremely excited” to be joining the firm, and had “huge admiration” for Hatch Mansfield and Chadwick.

She said: “The prestigious quality of the portfolio I will be managing displays the incredible diversity of Chile’s finest terroirs.

“Combine this with an award-winning winemaking team and you understand why these iconic estates are leaders in their fields. The wines are the epitome of finesse and elegance, comfortably competing with the world’s most renowned estates.”

Proving ground

A fortnight ago, Eduardo Chadwick told db editor Sarah Neish about how the firm didn’t need to prove itself anymore in the world of fine wine.

In an exclusive interview,Chadwick said “Chile was the underdog of the wine industry,” and “had to prove that we could extend our offering to terroir-based wines. It was difficult to get the message across, and we spent 10 years travelling the world to do so.”

But after the 2014 and 2021 vintages of Viñedo Chadwick achieved a critic score of 100 points, things had changed significantly.

“We are in the game. We’ve entered the party,” says Chadwick. “We don’t need to do any more blind tastings to show where we are.”

Unquestionably, he says: “We belong to that category of fine, terroir-based wines.”