Napa, Cal./PRNewswire -- Foster's Wine Estates has announced the appointment of Mike Holden to the position of senior vice president of sales. In this role, he will lead a team that is responsible for all U.S. sales activities of Foster's fine wine portfolio.

Holden brings 24 years of senior sales, marketing, business strategy and executive leadership to Foster's. Before joining Foster's, he was president and chief operating officer for Don Sebastiani & Sons. Holden also held leadership roles at Beam Wine Estates, Allied Domecq Wines USA and Diageo in Europe and the Americas.

Holden's experience has earned him an industry reputation as an outstanding leader and strategic thinker with expertise in the U.S. market. He has successfully led a number of sales teams through transformational change programs while delivering strong brand and market share growth.

Foster's Americas managing director Stephen Brauer said, "Mike is a proven talent in the wine and spirits industry with a record of developing winning sales strategies, driving performance and delivering growth. His experience and relationships with distributors and retailers has earned him a reputation as one of our industry's most skilled and respected leaders. He will provide an outstanding complement to our new chief marketing officer Francesca Schuler as they team together to drive performance of the Foster's portfolio of leading brands."

From the August 17, 2009, Prepared Foods E-dition