The Oceania Wine Group Team

As the Oceania Wine Group’s General Manager, Tom Cygnar brings to the company over thirty years experience in the wine and food & beverage industry. He has extensive knowledge of global wine regions and culinary specialties. Tom’s wine experience includes serving as the President of a wine importing business; being owner and CEO of a specialty retail wine store; serving as Western US Director of Sales for a Spanish winery; and being the General Manager of a table-side service restaurant. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri with an emphasis in food service management. When Tom is not working he can be found in the kitchen pairing great wine with great food. He also finds time to serve as the board president for his community’s nonprofit animal shelter and chairs the committee hosting the local annual village fair.

Joan joined Oceania Wine Group in January 2009 and is responsible for building distribution and sales in the western half of the United States. She started her wine career in 1989 at Wine Warehouse (Richmond, CA) as a chain merchandiser, advancing to Regional Sales Manager over the course of five years. Joan gained regional market experience working at Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants (San Francisco, CA) from 1994-2004. Her responsibilities were to build distribution for Chambers' brands in restaurants and independent wine retail shops with a diverse portfolio of American/domestic, Italian, French, German and other imported wines. She steadily increased sales every year during her 10 years with Chambers. In 2004, Joan became Northwest Regional Manager for Rosenblum Cellars (Alameda, CA). Here she managed distributors and delivered significant sales growth in northern California, Oregon, and northern Nevada until the sale of the winery to Diageo Chateau & Estates in March 2008.

Brianne was born on the East Coast of the United States but raised in the Midwest in Chicago, IL. She first learned to appreciate wine with her father Brian, an international business executive with a passion for both the new world and classical styles of wines.

A graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing, and a Bachelor of Arts in Magazine Editing, Brianne spent 18 years working for magazine publishers including Time Inc. and Condé Nast. After travelling to New Zealand in January 2001 to explore its various wine producing regions, Brianne became invloved in developing the vision for Paritua Vineyards in Hawkes Bay.

Brianne is the Managing Director of Paritua Vineyards as well as the Oceania Wine Group. She travels frequently to the United States, Hong Kong, and further to build the export side of the business for Paritua Vineyards and assist in the development of the Oceania Wine Group.

Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, in the United States, Gary Fisher’s first introduction to wine came during a college summer spent traveling through Europe. The wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy in particular left an indelible impression on Gary and sparked a dream of someday owning a vineyard.

Prior to developing Paritua Vineyards in New Zealand Gary studied history at Princeton University and began a career in magazine publishing in New York City. Later he established his own marketing services and electronics manufacturing company, and today this business – with offices in New York, Hong Kong and China – designs, engineers, and manufactures both retail and high-end promotional electronics.

Gary commutes to New Zealand from Hong Kong to monitor progress at Paritua Vineyards, participate in the design of the winery buildings, and provide oversight to Oceania Wine Group.

As controller for the Oceania Wine Group, Joe Steible brings over thirty years of accounting, operations, and administration experience. Born and raised in New Jersey, Joe graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from New Mexico Highlands University in 1970. From 1970-1985 Joe worked in various staff accounting and managerial positions with Union Carbide, a Fortune 500 company.

In 1986 Joe took a position as Corporate Controller and Director of Operations with Gary Fisher’s marketing services company, SPARK, playing a major role in the growth of the company over the last 20+ years.

As controller, his responsibilities include all accounting and financial aspects of the company. Joe works out of the New York corporate office.

Claudia Cygnar holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and worked in municipal government for over seven years. She has a thorough knowledge of administrative regulations. In her previous career she managed the total process of retail liquor licensing for the City of Lakewood, Colorado. She also served on the Colorado Liquor Enforcement Division’s task force, charged with re-codification of the state liquor code. She possesses an “insider’s” comfort level in dealing with the complexities of government procedures that are part of the territory of compliance.