Caine Thompson, Head of Sustainability for O’Neill Vintners & Distillers and Managing Director of Robert Hall Winery has cemented his industry leadership in sustainable winegrowing and operations throughout his wine industry career.
Caine was born and raised in Tauranga, New Zealand and grew up on a family orchard which led to his interest and studies in horticulture (BSC) at Massey University in New Zealand. He holds an MBA and has multifaceted wine industry experience in executive management, viticultural operations and technical research. His ascent in the wine industry was rapid. He was named New Zealand’s “Young Viticulturist of The Year” in 2009 and earned a “Leadership New Zealand Scholarship” in 2010.
After moving to the United States in 2015 he worked for Dave Phinney from Orin Swift as his General Manager for the Locations portfolio of wines.
In 2017, he joined Rabble Wine Company and as President (prior to O’Neill’s acquisition in 2021), he led the brand with the Earth in mind. Several of these sustainability programs he started continue at Rabble today through Caine’s direction at O’Neill (1% for the planet). He also initiates and implements green practices, leading the charge for sustainable certified for 200+ growers (15,000 acres) on behalf of the entire O’Neill organization. Since joining O’Neill Vintners & Distillers in October 2020, Caine has developed and launched a regenerative viticulture case study that will impact wine farming practices for years to come, which has now evolved to 1,000 in conversion to regenerative organic.
He also led O’Neill Vintners & Distillers to becoming the largest B-Corp Certified beverage company in the world and the largest Zero Waste Certified beverage company in the world.
He also supports the wine community through board positions service with the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation, Sustainable Wine Roundtable, Wine Institute, Calpoly University Vit &
Wine, Organic Trade Association (Vice Chair), and the CAB Collective, where he is Chairman of Vit & Wine Research. Caine has proven to be a leader in the wine industry recently been
selected as one of Wine Enthusiasts Future 40 in 2023 and is poised to impact sustainable wine growing and green wine initiatives for future generations
