Philip Gregan on leaving New Zealand Winegrowers

Following last week’s news that Anishka Jelicich will replace Philip Gregan as CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers, db speaks to the outgoing wine boss about how “world-class” research will ensure the nation’s future success, and how New Zealand’s signature style could have been Sherry, not Sauvignon Blanc.

Philip Gregan has spent an impressive 24 years heading up New Zealand Winegrowers, chaperoning the country’s wine industry through both boom times and more challenging periods such as in the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Late last year, Gregan announced that he would be retiring from the role in June 2026, and last week his replacement was confirmed as Anishka Jelicich, who joins New Zealand Winegrowers from Pernod Ricard.

In an exclusive interview with the drinks business just months before he steps down, Gregan reveals he is “looking forward to the change” of retirement.

“I’ve had a hugely enjoyable involvement in the industry for over 40 years but it is time to step back,” he says, before admitting he doesn’t have any firm plans for what comes next. “I have listened to advice from colleagues to take my time before deciding,” he says, sagely.

Astronomical ascent

There aren’t many who have dedicated such a significant portion of their working life to just one company, and during his time at New Zealand Winegrowers Gregan is fortunate to have witnessed the astronomical ascent of New Zealand wine from having “practically no level of recognition in international markets” to exporting 288.772 million litres of wine in 2025, according to the latest New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Report.

“When I joined the wine industry in 1983, we were a small domestically-focused industry, with only about 100 wineries and less than 5,000 ha of grapes,” he tells db. “Back then, fortified wines were still a huge part of the sector, something that is virtually non-existent today. We now export $NZ 2.1 billion worth of wine to more than 100 countries.”

Looking back at his proudest achievements, Gregan notes that it is “hugely rewarding to see Sauvignon Blanc and sustainability recognised around the world as hallmarks of New Zealand wine”, he says.

But which periods does he see as representing the biggest turning points?

Plunged into exports

“I joined the industry in the 1980’s at a pivotal moment – the signing of New Zealand’s Free Trade Agreement with Australia,” he points out. “This was a real turning point for the wineries and growers as we were forced to confront the future without the security blanket of a protected domestic market. Fortunately, the sector responded positively to the challenge; our wineries headed offshore and plunged headlong into exports and have never looked back,” he adds.

In describing this, he hits on two common threads that have run throughout New Zealand’s wine trade for many decades.

Firstly, declining domestic wine consumption has long been a tender point. In 2024, total domestic wine sales reached the lowest level in two decades (78.9m litres), representing a 20% decrease on a per capita basis in less than a decade. Why, when drinkers across the globe are thirstily snapping up New Zealand wine, do the country’s producers struggle to shift the same product to domestic consumers? A 2026 report by the New Zealand Herald suggests that beer is now the beverage of choice for Kiwis, representing 60% of the total volume of alcoholic beverages available for consumption, while spirits and RTDs follow suit with 21% of the share. Wine represents about 19%.

Secondly, and on a more positive note, there is a lasting camaraderie with New Zealand’s neighbour, Australia. Indeed, when asked which global regions Gregan thinks are doing a particularly good job at making and marketing wines, he says: “If pushed to name one country, I have to say I have a very deep affection for our antipodean cousins, Australia. We might not agree on things like rugby and cricket, but we often look at the world from a similar perspective.”

In recent years New Zealand and Australia have even joined forces to market their wines in combined trade tastings and events, an approach that has divided commentators with regards to the potential risks and rewards of doing so.

Recipe for future success

While it’s no hyperbole to say that Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has been one of the global wine industry’s biggest success stories, it’s not all a bed of roses. In March 2026, db reported that New Marlborough is bracing for a prolonged downturn, with growers cutting production and facing mounting financial pressure. Anton James, managing partner of Anton James & Co,. one of Marlborough’s most experienced accountant firms, said that the next few years are going be “so dire” for the region’s winegrowers, adding that every grape grower he had spoken to was looking to mothball vines in the wake of falling demand and lower prices.

If Gregen could have one wish granted for the future of NZ wine as a retirement gift, what would it be?

“To ensure that our vineyards and wineries continue to innovate and experiment as they have over the last generation or so,” he reveals.

“We have been successful because our wines did not slavishly follow established models,” he continues. “I think there is an important message in that for our research programmes… We have some amazing and absolutely world-class research going on in New Zealand at the moment at the Bragato Research Institute”.

According to Gregan, the Institute’s long-running Sauvignon Blanc 2.0 programme “is going to deliver a range of new clones of Sauvignon that will enable us to meet the challenges of climate change while preserving the distinctive characteristics of our wines,” he adds.

“Similarly, our Next Generation Viticulture programme has the potential to revolutionise the way we grow our vines. Together these two programmes offer the prospect of really exciting developments in our vineyards in the future.”

One such revolution was the approval in 2023 of a pioneering biofungicide in New Zealand’s vineyards to help stave off botrytis in Sauvignon Blanc. Called Novellus, the treatment is a valuable weapon in the fight against the fungal disease, which is estimated to cause damages of up to NZ$5,000 (£2,500) per hectare for kiwi winegrowers.

A fond farewell

Summarising what he has learned from his long career in wine, Gregan muses: “I suppose the number one lesson is that nothing stays the same for long. Ultimately, I think what that means for the wine business is that we need to ensure we stay in touch with our customers’ wants and needs, otherwise they will leave us behind.”

Exactly how hard will it be, come June, for him to say goodbye to the trade? And will he try to keep his hand in? “It will be a huge change, but I am looking forward to it. I really don’t know what the future holds at the moment, which is actually exciting, so time will tell.”

Read db’s earlier Big Interview with Philip Gregan here.