Kerina, the matriarch of the family, was a talented sprinter in her youth. While her children have since moved out of home, she remains actively involved in the business, with a particular focus on the produce side. Her responsibilities include ensuring the timely movement of our fresh containers to our site and overseeing customs and MPI formalities.

Additionally, she collaborates closely with our shipping partner, Maersk, to prevent any shipment delays. Kerina’s contributions are invaluable in our Fresh business, where speed is of the essence.

Her diligent oversight of the movement of our fresh containers and management of customs and MPI formalities helps ensure that we can operate at maximum efficiency and deliver our products to customers quickly.

Steve is an entrepreneur with an unmatched work ethic. He will always be found working, whether he’s stacking pallets with the Fresh Team at 3am or operating a tractor in the vineyard. Despite his non-stop work, Steve truly enjoys what he does. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who values their staff more than Steve does. When the earthquakes hit Tonga, Steve was determined to provide as much aid as possible to his staff, family members, and friends living there. Steve has built his business on finding and maintaining relationships, some lasting in excess of 30 years. He is a great believer in making things happen. Hard work runs in the Poulter family, as evidenced by Steve’s mother’s favourite story of how, when she forgot to pick him up from school at the young age of 5, she arrived home to find him feeding out on the farm. In this picture, he can be seen after laying concrete with his one-year-old grandson, passing down the family work ethic to the next generation.

Alexis, the eldest child in the family, is a mother of three and serves as the CEO of the business. She is also a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court. She began her career in wine sampling and merchandising in supermarkets and has since worked in virtually every area of the growing business, from picking orders and accounts to sales, HR, customs, freight forwarding, quality control, and health and safety. While she holds numerous qualifications, including Advanced HACCP, Transitional Facility Operator, Customs Broker, and a Masters of Law which she completed while working at the company, her primary focus is ensuring that the business runs smoothly for all stakeholders, including people, customers, and suppliers. In addition to her extensive professional accomplishments, Alexis is also an accomplished surfer with more than ten national surfing titles to her name. Currently, she is pursuing her WSET level 4 Diploma.

Ben is your classic viticulturist, devoting most of his time to the vineyards. Despite his youth he possesses a wealth of experience and knowledge in his field.

He has always been involved in the growing of some sort having started his career in Fresh Produce and managing our large imported fruit programme as well as Sales, he has a wealth of experience in dealing with growers and customers.

Ben is also smart, kind, and an accomplished athlete, having been a competitive surfer in his childhood. He achieved an impressive 6th place in the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships. As the liaison between our business and the majority of our growers, Ben is highly regarded for his care and passion for their success. Ben is known for being approachable, passionate and easy to work with.

Nick joined Sacred Hill in 2022 on the back of a long and successful career with Villa Maria Estate. Throughout his career Nick has received numerous Winemaking awards. In 2012 he was honoured with The Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year title, which is awarded to Australasia’s top young winemaker. He was the first New Zealander to receive this prestigious accolade. Nick has had the honour of being awarded ‘New Zealand Winemaker of the Year’ or ‘Winemaker of the Show’ on ten separate occasions between 2011-2020, making him one of Australasia’s most awarded Winemakers. Nick is highly driven to make great wine, and his passion particularly for Chardonnay compliments Sacred Hills ambition to cement the reputation of Rifleman’s vineyard amongst the finest in the country. Nick has a wonderful wife and 3 children who have all spent time in the winery, Nick is a huge asset to our team and a very valued member of our family.

Saimone is widely acclaimed as the best ripener in the Southern Hemisphere. His incredible work ethic rivals that of Steve’s, as he is responsible for ensuring the delivery of perfectly ripened yellow bananas every day of the year, in addition to overseeing the management of all our other fresh produce lines, warehousing, distribution and logistics. Saimone has an unwavering work ethic and outstanding commitment to making things happen and his service to our customers is unparalleled. Saimone is not only a valued member of our team, he is also considered a part of our family, with many of his own family members working in the business, including his wife Ngata and one of his five children. Saimone’s strong commitment to his work is evident to anyone who meets him. He puts his heart and soul into his job, often working seven days a week. It almost seems like he spends more time at work than at home with his wife and two dogs. He is an integral part of our team and family.

Sam, the youngest of the Poulter children, is a skilled salesman who stands out as perhaps the brightest among them, and he never lets anyone forget it. Having spent two years studying in China, he is fluent in Mandarin. Sam is exceptional when it comes to numbers, and he is responsible for overseeing the production of all of our wine as well as managing local sales. From designing labels to selling our famous Rifleman’s Chardonnay, Sam is involved in every aspect of the process. Sam’s deep understanding of the market and keen analytical skills, enables him to consistently identify opportunities to streamline processes and reduce costs without compromising quality, thus providing our customers with value for money. Having grown up tagging along with his siblings to surfing competitions, Sam has also become a skilled surfer himself. In fact, he even won the New Zealand Junior Longboard title one year.

In a growing business it is vital to have a good CFO and we are fortunate to have the best. She has been instrumental in the success of our business. Rossie has been with us for 13 years, her wealth of experience not only in New Zealand but in Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Macau across various industries, including multinational corporations, wholesale/distribution, manufacturing, construction, IT, and education, has undoubtedly added significant value to our operations. Rossie’s heart is in the business and her willingness to help anyone who needs it is truly admirable. She has a talent for quickly resolving problems which is an invaluable asset to our business. Rossie’s skills and dedication have been instrumental in driving our success, we would not be where we are today without her. She is not only a valued member of our team but also a part of our family.

Larissa is an integral member of our team as our Winery Manager. Her commitment and diligence is evident to anyone who meets her. She is a mother of one with a comprehensive background spanning all facets of the wine industry, from vineyard operations to winery vintages across Australia, Austria, and New Zealand, Larissa brings unparalleled expertise to her role. Her experience extends beyond the vineyards and into the lab, as well as managing sales and exports. Armed with a degree in Viticulture and Wine Science from EIT Hawkes Bay, Larissa’s knowledge and dedication are unmatched. Her innate ability to solve problems and drive results is invaluable in a growing business like ours. Additionally, Larissa plays a pivotal role in nurturing relationships with our valued export customers. As one of the youngest Winery Managers in the country we are very excited about the future.