Winemaker | Kane Grove
“My philosophy is, as a wine-maker you can make good wine from lower quality grapes but you can really make exceptional wine from high quality grapes capturing the personality and individual expression from each batch of fruit and letting it shine with minimal interference.”
Kane was born in Mandurah in the south west of WA. After moving to Margaret river when he was eight it is fair to say that wine was never far away from him.
After completed senior high school at Margaret River he was employed at the popular winery, Leeuwin Estate, thanks to his Dad’s help who worked there at the time. He was soon recruited into the cellar where his passion for wine began!
Following a steady progression through the ranks in the cellar Kane became Cellar Supervisor in 2003. The urge for more life experience saw him extensively travel throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand in 2005 but the draw to wine saw him return to Leeuwin Estate who welcomed him back with open arms. In 2007 Kane studied a bachelor of Environmental Science full time at Edith Cowen University allowing him to keep his options open in his career path.
Once again the draw to wine saw him return to the cellar at Howard Park Wines in 2010, then an opportunity arose to take up a cellar master position at Naturaliste Vintners, a premium custom crush facility in Margaret River.
Kane decided it was time to move up further in his career so whilst working full time at Naturaliste Vintners he completed his Graduate Diploma in Oenology at Curtin University. He was made assistant wine-maker at Naturaliste Vintners in 2012 and worked in this role for 6 years before taking the position of production wine-maker at Driftwood Estate in December 2017.
He is extremely excited and enthusiastic about growing and progressing in this role following extensive mentoring from the consultant wine-maker Eloise Jarvis. The opportunity now exists for him to be involved heavily in the vineyard allowing him to craft the wines and styles he believes will bring Driftwood to the forefront of the premium wine producers in the Margaret River region.
Kane has a wife and 3 children and owns a house close to the beach in Geographe Bay Busselton.