Wine Business Forum

An annual opportunity for the New Zealand wine industry to connect, learn, and celebrate achievements.

The New Zealand Winegrowers Wine Business Forum 2025 is the must-attend event for anyone involved in the business of wine to more deeply understand the fast-changing landscape of the global wine industry and how to adapt to sustain future growth. As New Zealand Winegrowers celebrates 30 years since the inception of its Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand programme, this year’s forum will also explore topics on sustainability and its importance to wine business. With world-class speakers and thought-provoking discussions, attendees will gain invaluable insights into the strategies and innovations shaping the future of New Zealand wine.

Te Pae Christchurch, Auditorium A1
Thursday 28 August 2025 - 8:30 am - 5:00 pm (timings to be confirmed)

More details to come.

You can check out the 2024 events here.

Speakers

Lulie Halstead - Founder and CEO of Wine Intelligence 

Lulie is a globally recognised leader in wine and spirits business strategy. As founder and CEO of Wine Intelligence for 20 years, she helped reshape how the drinks industry understands and connects with consumers, using data-led insights to drive growth and innovation. She is a Trustee of WSET and board member of Drinks United, supporting DEI in the UK drinks industry.

In 2021, she established a vineyard in the UK and has been teaching strategy and marketing on wine business master’s programmes globally for more than 20 years. Lulie is now an investor in wine, drinks, and hospitality businesses, advising founders and leadership teams on scaling and preparing for exit. She co-hosts the podcast A Question of Drinks, exploring trends and stories that have shaped the drinks industry.

Rob McMillan - Silicon Valley Bank, Wine Division

One of the most respected voices in the global wine business, Rob McMillan brings unmatched expertise from his role at Silicon Valley Bank and decades of market analysis. Rob is one of the top wine-business analysts in the United States and the author of Silicon Valley Bank’s highly regarded annual State of the Wine Industry Report. With decades of experience researching wine business, his views are sought after and trusted by winery owners, journalists, entrepreneurs, and investors. He is a prominent speaker, both domestically and internationally, and he is extensively quoted in national, regional, and trade press. He has also been named several times as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in the US wine industry.

Rob’s banking career has spanned 35-plus years — more than 25 with Silicon Valley Bank. In that time, he has held positions of increasing responsibility, including division manager of the Wine Group, executive manager of the bank’s Commercial Division, and several years as a member of Silicon Valley Bank’s Managing Committee. He is currently responsible for establishing new winery relationships and offers private management presentations and strategic consulting to the bank’s clients across the portfolio.

Natalie Wang - Hong Kong-based wine journalist

A Hong Kong-based Chinese wine journalist, Natalie Wang was born and raised in Chongqing, China. She obtained her Master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Hong Kong, and honed her journalist skills with International Herald Tribune, Thomson Reuters, and JNA magazine. She has worked in the wine industry since 2015, first with American wine critic James Suckling and later with the drinks business Hong Kong as its managing editor for Asia.

In mid-January 2019, Wang launched her own media platform Vino Joy News, providing the most trustworthy and authoritative content, data and analysis on China’s wine industry. She was voted one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women working in wine and spirits industry by Women in Wine and Spirits Awards (WINWSA) in 2021 and won the Social Media Award. In 2022, she was nominated for 2023 Wine Communicator of the Year by IWSC, the only Chinese born wine journalist to achieve the distinction. She also serves as the only Chinese wine judge for The 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards, which celebrates excellence in wine writing and communications.

Benjamin Gibson, founder and CEO of Winehub.io

Benjamin Gibson is the founder and CEO of Winehub.io, the largest dedicated wine technology platform for Shopify. Wineries around the globe utilise Winehub’s systems to process wine clubs, loyalty programs, allocations and tasting room experiences. With a background in product engineering, Benjamin brings a wealth of technical expertise and practical insights into the future of digital wine retail. You can often find him speaking at global wine events and the occasional industry podcast.

David Downs, CEO of The New Zealand Story

David has had a successful career in the private and public sector and is now CEO of The New Zealand Story, an ambitious government-funded organisation marketing New Zealand to the world. He also acts as a consultant and is a director on several boards, including as Chair of The Icehouse, and the Hi-Tech Trust. David is an ex-comedian, TV and radio actor, semi-finalist for New Zealander of the Year, cancer survivor and a published author of the books No.8 Re-wired, No.8 Recharged, A Mild Touch of the Cancer, and Silver Linings. David is the Ambassador for the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and a living example of the effectiveness of advanced Cancer treatment – CAR T-Cell Therapy. 

If you have any questions, please contact events@nzwine.com.

With thanks to our Sponsor Hillebrand Gori