OUR PEOPLE

Nic Bowen, Chief Winemaker

Nic Bowen joined the Howard Park winemaking team for the 2021 vintage.

Born in the Great Southern region into a winemaking family, he was for a time a professional triathlete, before completing a commerce degree and working in financial planning. However this path wasn’t for him.

Working vintage in Bordeaux and the South of France made Nic appreciate the cultural interaction of wine, people, food and place and returning to Australia he went back to university to gain a degree in winemaking and pursue a career in the industry. He landed a coveted role at Hardys in South Australia, making wines for Tintara and working closely with sparkling wine master Ed Carr at House of Arras.

Nic enjoys the combination of artistry and blending and understanding what each parcel of fruit brings to the palate of the wine. He has a particular passion for sparkling wine and is excited about the possibilities of the Jeté range. He’s looking to experiment with yeasting rates, ageing and oak use and building more layers of complexity into those wines.

David Botting, Chief Viticulturist

David Joined Howard Park in 2004. His many achievements leading the viticultural team include planting the Allingham vineyard from scratch, nurturing the Mount Barrow vineyard, importing new clones, establishing a rootling nursery and introducing an extensive composting regime.

David began his career at an early age in his family’s grape growing business, before studying and teaching viticulture at Roseworthy Agricultural College in the early 1990s and working with one of Australia’s leading viticultural consultancies.

Stephen Kirby, Group Vineyard Manager

Steve is the newest member of the viticulture team at Howard Park Wines, stepping into the role of Group Vineyard Manager.

Since beginning his viticulture career in his home state of South Australia at Berri Estate, the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere, Steve’s career has taken him to many of the country’s finest vineyards, working in both regional Victoria and Tasmania. For the last 11 years, Steve has become embedded in the South West wine scene, working as the Margaret River Viticulturist for Accolade Wines based at the highly acclaimed Brookland Valley.

Over the years, Steve has contributed to wine industry research initiatives through both the Riverland and WA vine improvement committees. Much of Steve’s research has been focussed on increasing the industry’s understanding of varietal mixes and clone selections in Australian vineyards.