Some individuals who achieve tremendous success in their professional lives develop egos just as prodigious.
Jim Clerkin has never fallen into that trap. For him, humility, grace and goodwill have always been paramount.
Clerkin is not just president and CEO of Moët Hennessy North America. He also devotes his energy to a multitude of professional and charitable organizations, mentors many employees and youth, and is always generous with his time.
“Jim Clerkin has made an indelible mark on the wine and spirits industry,” says Wayne Chaplin, president and CEO of
Southern Wine & Spirits, who was
Wine Enthusiast’s Person of the Year in 2016. “His success can not only be attributed to his great talent and leadership, but also to his integrity, humility and commitment to helping everyone he works with reach their full potential. I consider it a great pleasure and honor to get to work with him and his team.”
Arguably, the best trait of a leader is embracing teamwork. This is a concept that Clerkin may take to the extreme.
When informed by Wine Enthusiast that he’d be honored as its 2017 Person of the Year, Clerkin dished off credit deftly.
“What an extraordinary honor this is,” says Clerkin. “There’s no chance I’d get that consideration without the great people I work with. I also feel very fortunate to represent some of the most iconic brands in the world. I truly see my role as being a caretaker, to protect the heritage and honor the pioneering spirit, and ensuring I leave them in a better place than I found them.”
That won’t be a problem.
Clerkin was born in 1954 on a farm in the village of Rostrevor, in County Down, Northern Ireland. The oldest of nine children, Clerkin learned the value of family, friendship and hard work from an early age.
“My parents taught me that family really matters most of all,” he says. “I like to think I’m a great team player, and that I motivate very different people with very different styles to come together and harness energy as one team for a common goal. At Moët Hennessy, we continuously cultivate diversity and inclusive engagement through education, exposure and experiences.”
He credits his father as his first and most important mentor. As someone who appreciated Hennessy, and enjoyed it mixed with ginger ale and a single ice cube, Jim learned from him about the history of the Hennessy family, who left Cork in the mid-1700s to seek their fortunes overseas.
In 2015, Hennessy celebrated its 250th anniversary.
“A great milestone,” says Clerkin. “The brand has doubled its sales in the past five years. Last year, Hennessy VS crossed the three-million-cases mark and still grew 20 percent, a record for the brand. And not just VS, but VSOP, Hennessy Black and XO are also performing very well.”
Clerkin began his career with Guinness in 1976. He advanced quickly, joining its board of directors at age 36.
In 1994, Grand Metropolitan recruited Clerkin to lead its wines and spirits division in Ireland. Three years later, the company merged with Guinness to form Diageo, and he was promoted to executive vice president as well as president of its Western U.S. wine and spirits division.
In 2003, he joined Allied Domecq as president for North America and Canada, and after its acquisition by Pernod Ricard and Jim Beam, he was appointed CEO of The Jim Beam Company for Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Moët Hennessy (the wine, Champagne and spirits division of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton) named Clerkin its executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2008. Shortly after, he became CEO and president of Moët Hennessy USA. Most recently, Clerkin’s responsibilities expanded to include Mexico and Canada.
Clerkin takes much pride in the success of his staff, where the departments work alongside dedicated teams for areas such as business intelligence, digital, new business and strategic marketing.
While respecting the history and tradition of their brands, Moët Hennessy’s Champagne houses continue to strive for innovation, seizing creative opportunities to further the art of winemaking. Recent innovations include Moët Ice Impérial, the first Champagne designed to be poured over ice, and a Clicquot line extension called Rich, designed to be served like a cocktail.
“We’ve made Champagne less formal and more approachable and, as a consequence, we are growing in a steady, longer-term fashion.” he says.
Competition from other sparkling wines has increased in recent years, notably Prosecco. Clerkin embraces the challenge. “I take my hat off to competitors who have been innovative with packaging,” he says. “We see everybody, at any price point, as competitors. I would argue that this has inspired us to work harder at growing Champagne.
“I will take some credit, with my team, to talk about Chandon. This year we will sell six million bottles for the first time ever in America. A lot has to do with one-off special editions that have been remarkably successful. And I am excited for what will be coming in 2018.”
According to LVMH interim financial reports, highlights for the first half of 2017 include their Champagne sales volume up eight percent and a “very good first half” for Hennessy, “driven in particular by United States, where demand continued to rise.”
Overall, global profits in Wines & Spirits were up 21 percent and revenues were up 12 percent, with Europe and the United States particularly dynamic regions.
“Jim Clerkin is a key leader in our sector promoting modernization, innovation and social responsibility,” says Kraig R. Naasz, president and CEO of DISCUS. “Jim has helped guide us at the Distilled Spirits Council as our chair and active member of the board, where he has presided over an extended period of growth in market share and several significant public policy victories.”
The
UJA-Federation of New York’s Wine & Spirits Division bestowed upon Clerkin its Samuel Bronfman Memorial Award after he helped raise a record-breaking $775,000 for the organization. He supported the grand opening of the
National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, where Hennessy, Belvedere and Moët & Chandon were featured and served.
A U.S. citizen, he retains a connection to his roots. Clerkin is involved in organizations like Irish America,
Northern Ireland Connection and
Co-operation Ireland, a nonprofit that promotes peace and a sustained reconciliation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which he serves as chairman.
Clerkin’s focus there, as in much of his charity work, is on youth leadership programs. It’s a way to pay back mentors like his father that helped pave his way. He’s also a board member at the
Royal Academy America, a nonprofit that promotes the arts, as well as a supporter of the
9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City.
For his vast contributions to the wine and spirits industry, as well as his philanthropy, generosity and character, Wine Enthusiast is proud to honor Jim Clerkin as its 2017 Person of the Year. —Paul Gregutt
