Owner, vigneron and pinot noir lover, Jeff Burch has been a driving force behind Howard Park’s success, a fervent champion of Margaret River and the Great Southern, instrumental in establishing our méthode traditionnelle sparkling programme, and a familiar face within the West Australian wine industry.
Jeff had his first taste of wine as a young nipper in South Australia, sipping watered down wine at the dinner table, and later after many trips back to Margaret River in the 1980s to surf, he and his wife Amy would find themselves visiting the local wineries in between trips to the beach and raising their young family.
After a trip to France, visiting grower champagnes and large houses alike a seed of an idea was planted. “I went and saw them, spoke to them, tasted with them and imported four of them. And then from there I said “I think I’m going to have a go at this…how do you do it?”. So I went back to Champagne and asked around and looked for equipment to buy and made a captains call, “we’re making méthode traditionnelle sparkling!”, adding “it’s a beautiful folly. Jeff’s folly.”
We invite you to take a moment and enjoy episode two of An Open Bottle.
Shot by Laundon Peacock.
An Open Bottle is an ongoing miniseries that goes focuses on the people and personalities behind the wines we make. Watch the next episode with Chief viticulturalist David Botting, here.