Sainsbury’s winemaker Lucy Clements is leaving the supermarket to go to a Californian wine business.

Clements will take up a position as director of winemaking at Cornerstone US Wine Imports. She will remain at Sainsbury’s until August.

Cornerstone is the US division of UK wine broker Copestick Murray, which was launched in 2007 to build trading relationships and distribution in the American market and helps source wine for Fresh & Easy, the US division of Tesco.

Since Christmas a number of high profile members of Sainsbury’s BWS team have moved on: senior wine buyer Julian Dyer went to Australian Vintage; winemaker Clem Yates MW moved across to Off Piste Wines; and buyer David Peek left to work with Copestick Murray.

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said the location suited Clements, who is Australian but married to an Englishman, as she will now be located halfway between the two countries.

The retailer will be replacing Clements and expects to make an announcement on the subject within the next few weeks.