New Winemaker at Deakin Estate Mildura
Announcement posted by Wingara Wine Group 22 Dec 2014
After more than 10 years at the winemaking helm, Dr. Phil Spillman has resigned from his position as Deakin Estate winemaker and will hand over to Frank Newman in January 2015. Phil’s passion and dedication have raised the quality of the Deakin Estate range to a level seldom seen in wines at the sub $10 price point. More recently, Phil created the Azahara and La La Land ranges at higher price points – both have been extensively reviewed Australia wide. James Halliday once described Phil as a “gifted” winemaker and his thoughtful approach to winemaking will be missed.
Frank Newman joins Deakin Estate after decades of rich winemaking experience, including Senior White, then Red Winemaker at Penfolds, working alongside Max Schubert in the creation of Grange. Frank was also Chief Winemaker and Production Manager at Angoves for more than a decade and also made wine for BRL Hardy’s Renmano. His most recent role as partner and winemaker at Burnbrae Wines Mudgee caps off his expertise in crafting wines across most styles and price points.
Frank has commenced at Deakin and is excited about coming down from the hills of Mudgee to the beautiful Murray River district. He explains “My wife is a river girl, so she is excited as I am about my new position. Whilst I will tread carefully not to change the culture here too quickly, I am looking forward to putting a little of my character into the wines, but nothing too extravagant. My aim is always perfection and my football team’s motto is something that has been a driving influence over the years. Nil satis nisi optimum – not satisfied with less than the best.”
Speaking on Frank’s appointment, Wingara Wine Group’s Director of Operations and Finance, Chris Pike noted “Given Frank’s outstanding credentials, we are confident he is the ideal person to carry on from what Phil has created for Deakin Estate. We thank Phil for his commitment and dedication and wish him all the very best.”
ABOUT -Deakin Estate wines were launched in 1994 and are made at our state of the art winery at Red Cliffs, near Mildura Victoria. The wines are entirely estate grown with fruit harvested from the 350 hectare vineyard. From this, 205 000 (nine litre) dozen of Deakin Estate branded wine are produced from an average of 2 500 tonnes each year. With other labels produced at the Estate, these figures are approximately double. The wines are distributed in every state of Australia and to most wine drinking countries internationally.