Wine Grenade appoints Enartis USA as exclusive distributor in North America

We are very excited to announce that we have appointed an exclusive North American distributor and established a new executive role in the USA as we ramp up production of our micro-ox and data solution.

The distribution deal with Enartis USA gives Wine Grenade immediate access to a sales network selling a complimentary portfolio of winemaking products, analytical services and winery technology throughout North America. Enartis USA is part Esseco Group, a global manufacturer of wine making and enology products.

José Santos, President and CEO of Enartis USA says: “We found in Wine Grenade the perfect partner to complement our offering in micro-oxygenation and better serve small-to-medium sized wineries. We believe that micro-oxygenation is a key technology in modern winemaking, and adding Wine Grenade to our portfolio of micro-ox systems makes it available for wineries of all sizes in a cost effective way”.

Hamish Elmslie, CEO, says “Enartis USA is a highly respected name in winemaking products and lab services, and has also been a leading supplier of micro-oxygenation systems in North America since 2011. As a partner they will provide the scale, market knowledge and on the ground support we need to reach more customers.”

Wine makers in eight countries are now using the Wine Grenade and to support Enartis USA and other international opportunities, Wine Grenade’s Board has also announced an expanded executive team, effective from June.

Co-founder and current CEO Hamish Elmslie will relocate to California as Chief Product Officer. Hamish, who has led the company as CEO since 2014 after a career in banking, will continue as a Director.

Co-founder and director Jonathan Boswell will take on the role of Managing Director, guiding R&D, production and Australasian sales from the company’s Avondale manufacturing base. Jonathan has a background in law and banking and holds a Master of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship from the University of Auckland. He was most recently CEO of Auckland firm TGT Legal.

Brett O’Riley, Chair of Wine Grenade, says “As the company expands overseas we are scaling up the team to pursue our growth strategy while retaining vital product knowledge within the business. Creating a new Chief Product Officer role based in the USA, will help collaboration with our new strategic partner Enartis while putting us in striking distance of key markets in Europe.”

In March Wine Grenade received a $438,000 Callaghan Innovation co-funding grant for product development including capturing the benefits of data and IoT in the winery. Last month, in May, the product was recognised with an INNOVATION + QUALITY Award at IQ 2018, the annual Napa Valley forum for ultra-premium wineries focused on cutting-edge innovations that advance wine quality.

Jonathan Boswell, co-founder, says “Our product has been tested and endorsed by the US wine making industry and now is the time to invest in that market. I’m looking forward to working alongside Hamish and our team as the company enters full production and commercialisation.”

Wine Grenade’s vision is to provide winemakers with the insights they need to consistently make great wine, year after year.  In December 2017 it released customer dashboards, providing real-time data about critical device information such as oxygen release rates, tank and cellar temperatures, tank headspace and membrane pressure levels as well as the battery life, wifi signal strength and amount of oxygen remaining.


About Enartis USA
Beginning as the pioneering Vinquiry Wine Laboratory in the early days of the modern US wine industry, Enartis USA is now a leading supplier of premium winemaking products to the North American Wine Industry and provides high-quality analytical services through its network of laboratories.
The ISO 17025:005 Accreditation of our main laboratory in Windsor, CA verifies the high-quality of analytical services that we provide our clients, which range from basic chemistry testing to most recent analytical technologies such as Real Time Quantitative PCR (PCR Panels), oak aroma compounds analysis and grape and wine phenolics analysis (Phenolic Fingerprint), among many others.
In January of 2009, Vinquiry Wine Labs became part of the multi-national company Esseco Group, which manufactures the Enartis range of premium winemaking products. Being part of the world leading manufacturer of winemaking products has allowed us to incorporate advanced technology and develop tailored solutions for the US wine industry. Enartis USA is a leading supplier of winemaking products, with the capabilities to meet the needs of wineries of all sizes. www.enartis.com.



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