William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2013

Bill Downie is one of those obsessed pioneers or visionaries that focussed on their passion and in the process redefined how people think about and approach Pinot Noir in Australia. His start was in wine retail, transitiong into a few years working with Phillip Jones, founder of Bass Phillip and developing a full blown Burgundy addiction. After falling out with Phillip Jones he was employed as a winemaker at De Bortoli and would be back and fourth to Burgundy honing his craft and soaking up as much as he could too. He started producing small batches of wines under the William Downie label in 2003, growing the range to focus on the Yarra Valley, Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula and eventually settling in Gippsland to start farming his own. - Pete L