Rymill Team

Nharess Albert

Brand Manager

Nharess was born in Yarram, and her distinctive name is derived from a combination of those of her two grandmothers, Nharita and Jess. She grew up on a farm in Gippsland and her parents also acquired a nearby historical property which they converted to an accommodation and functions venue. Nharess attended the Yarram Secondary College where she won the Business Studies Award, and also enjoyed art and netball. She moved to Melbourne in 2000, working in office administration, bookkeeping and tax accounting, before coming to Coonawarra where she worked in various roles before joining Rymill Coonawarra in 2012. Meanwhile she completed her TAFE Certificate III studies in both Business Administration and Food & Wine Processing, and is currently studying externally for a Bachelor Degree of Business Marketing at Charles Sturt University. She lives in Naracoorte and spends any spare time reading, walking her dogs and cooking for her loved ones with a glass of wine in hand.

Kirsty Dixon

Cellar Door Co-ordinator

Kirsty was born and educated in Naracoorte, the daughter of John and Ermgard Blacksell. At school her best subject was English, her top sport netball, and her greatest outdoors interest the Naracoorte Pony Club, which she shared with her horse Stormbray Carburettor. She then combined dressage and show jumping with a Stage III TAFE course in Tourism Studies at Mount Gambier which she completed in 2003. Meanwhile she worked as a receptionist at Banner Hardware, before becoming cellar door manager at Majella Wines. In 2006 she won a position as a new car sales consultant with BMW in Adelaide which she loved, her best tally being the sale of eleven brand new Beamers in a month. She returned to the South East and continued a career in car sales until she joined Rymill in 2012. Kirsty still enjoys playing netball for Edenhope/Apsley, where her husband has taken up a coaching role. She also loves reading fiction, the company of her friends, especially if it involves good food and wine, and indulges in the occasional bout of retail therapy.

Tom Whitehead

Sales Manager

Descended from the founder of Penola, Alexander ‘King’ Cameron, but growing up in Western Victoria, Tom’s interest in wine began in 1995 working for a fine wine retailer, which led to his obtaining a Diploma of Wine Marketing from the University of Adelaide in 2000. He then completed a busy year with vintage work in the Barossa Valley at Yalumba, primarily looking after red ferments, and from there took up a sales position with Samuel Smith and Son in Perth.

In 2001, Tom joined Negociants Australia, the national wine distributor for Rymill Coonawarra, and worked there as an Area Manager in Melbourne, before joining us in 2007 where he is now responsible for sales across our domestic and export markets.

Tom’s penchant for reds and white wines naturally extends to his supporting the Sydney Swans on weekends, which is consistent with his own illustrious sporting career. It began with his winning the Under 8 Athletics Championship at the Caramut Primary School in 1984, and has never looked back. However, the time he now has available for football, cricket, tennis and golf takes second place to his family commitments.

Michael Gruetzner

Vineyard Manager

Born in Adelaide, and growing up both there and in Germany, ‘Micko’ joined the RAAF as an apprentice and undertook an Aircraft Mechanics course at the Edinburgh Air Base. He still maintains this interest, holding an ultra-light pilot’s licence, but his career next led him into the Victorian High Country where he worked as a professional horse-wrangler near Daylesford (not for long!)

However, home beckoned, and he returned to help his father establish a family vineyard near Apsley, Victoria, in the early 1990s. At the same time he was working with Hardy’s developing their new Koppamurra Vineyards, and also studying for his SA Certificate in Viticulture. He joined Rymill Coonawarra in 1998, was appointed vineyard operations manager in 2004.

Sandrine Gimon

Senior Winemaker

Sandrine Gimon was born in Ardèche but grew up in the French Alps at Chambéry. In 1995 she moved to Reims to study at the University of Sciences, which annually selects a maximum of only 24 students for its school of winemaking. She completed her internship at Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin in Champagne prior to graduating in 1998 with a Diplôme National d’œnologue.Her first job was a consultant winemaker in Entre-Deux-Mers, Bordeaux.

Between 2000 and 2004, as a winemaker wanting to achieve worldwide experience, Sandrine travelled extensively, working in Romania, Swan Valley Western Australia, Languedoc Roussillon and Pomerol. She returned to Australia in 2005 to spend a vintage at Stonehaven South Australia, before joining Rymill Coonawarra in July of that year, and was appointed Senior Winemaker in November 2008.

Sandrine recognises Australia’s innovative approach to winemaking as a perfect environment in which to pursue her winemaking goals.

Amelia Anderson

Assistant Winemaker

Born in Wudinna and educated in Adelaide, Amelia studied oenology at the University of Adelaide, graduating with honours in 2007. Her field of research involved the application of spectroscopy to maintain quality control in winemaking.

During her university days she worked in the Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills, before joining Rymill early in 2008. Later in that year she took leave to gain international vintage experience in the Gers region of Armagnac in south-west France.

Warren Fennell

Cellar Manager

Warren Fennell grew up in a Coonawarra equestrian family and was soon a member of the Penola Hunt Club where he competed in gymkhana events and point-to-points. However, it is at polocrosse, with Casterton as his home team, that he excels. He was named the best and fairest player for Victoria when they beat Queensland at an interstate challenge in 2005.

Warren entered the wine industry immediately after leaving Penola High School in 1991, and worked at Hollick (Coonawarra), Rothbury Estate (Hunter Valley), Montrose (Mudgee) and Heathfield Ridge (Naracoorte) before joining Rymill Coonawarra in 2004.

His interests, after his family, include international travel, and at times he has been known to fly the Rymill flag at overseas promotions.

Jane Ellis

Events Coordinator

Descended from the French Royal Family, Jane grew up on her parents’ horse farm at Valley View, part of which is now the Netter Reserve and is named after them. Educated in Adelaide, she was awarded a Diploma in Horse Husbandry and Management by the Roseworthy Agricultural College, where she also met her future husband.

She then worked as a wrangler and stunt-double on the film set of McLeod’s Daughters, as a trail riding assistant in the Victorian High Country, and a jillaroo on mustering camps at Meda Station in the Kimberley where she broke her back (as a consequence of a tall horse and a low branch) and had to be air-lifted to Perth. Making a full recovery, her interests turned to wine, and she obtained a Certificate in Wine Studies from the Australian Centre for Wine Business Management.

In 1999 she worked at Blok Estate and Heathfield Ridge, and was the inaugural manager for Yalumba Menzies before joining Rymill Coonawarra in 2006. In any remaining spare time, Jane enjoys gardening, reading and indulging in the occasional long lunch with her friends.

Scott Bradley

Financial Controller

Born and bred in Mount Gambier, Scott completed an apprenticeship in automotive spare parts interpreting at OG Roberts before becoming the manager of their panel shop for four years.

He then returned to the academic world, and completed a University of South Australia Bachelor of Commerce degree in 2008, majoring in accounting and commercial law.

Josie Abbey

Accounts Administration Officer

Josie grew up on a Penola soldier settler dairy farm where her parents, Tom and Florence Simons, milked 50 cows by hand and had nine children. During World War II her father had served in the 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion of 7^thDivision in Syria and Java, and survived as a prisoner of war on the Burma Railway and in Japanese coal mines.

Josie was educated in Penola, joined the National Bank as a teller when she left school and was promoted to the loans department. Netball has also played a major role in Josie’s life, including competing at inter-league and interstate levels, and she now coaches local teams and talented youngsters in the South Eastern Regional Netball Academy.

Living on her family farm, Conara, where she and her husband grow fat lambs and have a vineyard, she is a close neighbour of Rymill Coonawarra, which she joined in 2009. Although only part-time, her presence is always apparent, being heralded by her cheerful laugh which is renowned for brightening everybody’s day.

Melissa Pryor

Administration Officer

Melissa grew up on a sheep stud in the Adelaide Hills, which provided an ideal training ground for her long-distance running that culminated in her selection for the Under 18 SA Athletics Team. However, she soon sacrificed this, as well as her early promise in ballet and talent with the clarinet, for her love of horses. Graduating from the Strathalbyn Pony Club as a national equestrian vaulting champion, she then became involved with Australian Stud Book Ponies, which she now breeds, breaks-in, educates and shows. She has won championships with them at the Adelaide and Melbourne Royal Shows and other major events throughout South Australia and Victoria.

Educated at Strathalbyn and Annesley, Melissa graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2009 with a Bachelor of Agriculture degree majoring in genetics and with a distinction in agribusiness. After working in a veterinary clinic (to help pay her ponies’ veterinary bills), a lettuce farm at Mingbool, and Katnook Winery, she joined Rymill Coonawarra in April 2010. She now lives on her parents’ gum-studded farm west of Coonawarra with her team of show ponies, brood mares, foals and two spirited stallions.