Ted Jansen is joining Inertia Beverage Group (IBG) as chief executive officer. IBG provides an integrated sales and marketing platform for wineries conducting direct-to-consumer and direct-to-trade wine sales. Jansen most recently was senior vice president for product and retail with Expedia, Inc. and, prior to that, was vice president for product management and marketing with Walt Disney Internet Group. IBG founder Paul Mabray is moving into the role of chief strategy officer/executive vice president of business development. He will be responsible for all business development deals and will lead all product innovations for Inertia. Mabray said he will be with IBG "for the long haul." Last month IBG launched a new web-based compliance tool for consumer direct wine shipping. The tool is free and users need not be IBG customers to use it. By uploading order and shipping data to the system, ready-to-send reports are generated that satisfy and comply with the various states' order and reporting requirements.

Women for Winesense presented Susan Sokol Blosser its Lifetime Achievement Award at its "Celebrating Women in Wine" event in Napa Valley. In February, the co-founder of the Dundee-based Sokol Blosser Winery received a similar award from the Oregon Wine Board. Sokol Blosser retired as Sokol Blosser Winery president in January, but continues to serve as an ambassador for the winery. Her son Alex and daughter Alison now hold the position as co-presidents.

Chris Millard was appointed as the new winemaker at Napa's Newton Vineyard, owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH). Millard has been senior winemaker for Sterling Vineyard. He will report to Chris Munsell, recently promoted to be estate director for both Domaine Chandon and Newton Vineyard. Munsell joined LVMH in June 2007 as operations winemaker, having previously worked for Beam Wine Estates. Newton Vineyard was founded by Peter and Su Hua Newton in 1977. In 2001, LVMH bought a majority share. Peter Newton died in February 2008.

Promotion organization Wine Marlborough (New Zealand) has appointed 35-year-old Marcus Pickens as their new marketing manager. Pickens started his working career with Liquorland, specializing in fine wines. Since then he has worked for Montana Wines, Allied Liquor Merchants, Hancocks Wine and Spirits and, recently, Glengarry as the fine wine sales manager. He starts on May 26. Pickens replaces Tom Trolove who resigned earlier this year.

A bronze statue to commemorate David Herd, the first winemaker in Marlborough, New Zealand, has been unveiled at Blenheim Airport, 113 years after his death. Herd was born in Scotland in 1829 but immigrated to Australia in 1852 before moving to New Zealand in 1854. He originally settled in Nelson before moving to the Marlborough region in 1855. In the early 1870s he planted a small plot of vines on a property, which he renamed Auntisfield, when he purchased it in 1879. Herd made wine there until he died in 1905. Winemaking continued at Auntisfield until 1931 when the vines were grubbed up. Auntisfield was bought by filmmaker Graeme Cowley in the early 1990s. New vineyards have been planted and Auntisfield is now making wine again.

Kim Parsons joined Bodegas Julian Chivite with a role to oversee the development of the Chivite portfolio of wines in the U.K. and he will be working closely with distributors Berkmann Wine Cellars, the U.K. agents for Chivite. He took up his new post on May 1. Parsons was previously general manager of Spanish wine specialist Laymont & Shaw, which has just been bought by Berkmann.