Veteran Niagara winemaker Shiraz Mottiar has been appointed the general manager and “team principal” of Malivoire Wines, founder and president Martin Malivoire announced today.
After taking his place as the new GM, Mottiar quickly made his first decision to appoint Elisa Mazzi to be his successor as the next winemaker at the Malivoire Wine Company.
“Shiraz is the obvious choice to lead,” said Malivoire, who started the winery 25 years ago on the Beamsville Bench. “Since the outset, ours has been a quality-focused winery and Shiraz has been unequivocally invested in pursuing the precision of our wines, the signature strength of our vineyards and evolving our company DNA.”
Since taking the winemaking helm in 2005, Mottiar has become one of the Canadian wine industry’s best-known and most highly regarded figures, through a distinguished career that has included recognition as winemaker of the year at the 2017 Ontario Wine Awards, a news release from Malivoire said.
On the promotion of Mazzi to head winemaker status, Mottiar said: “Among our strengths is growing and creating distinctive wines of purity through our unique, by-Malivoire style of winemaking. Elisa has been integral to that development. As a bonus, she brings to the table her own creative flair, and I’m eager to see it flourish.”
Mazzi has distinguished herself as Shiraz’s assistant since joining the Malivoire winemaking team in 2011, managing Malivoire’s sparkling wines production since 2015, the press release said. “She was a key contributor as Malivoire achieved Canadian winery of the year honours in 2021.”
“I’ve been fortunate to work with and learn from the most talented people, said Mazzi. “I can’t wait to begin.”
Added Malivoire: “Having known Elisa and her family for years and seeing the spark of an ingenious talent, I’m delighted to provide her this opportunity to shine.”
— By Wines in Niagara with information provided by Malivoire
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