Winemaker Profiles
Kim Horton, Senior Winemaker
Kim was fascinated with wine and vineyards at a young age as he grew up in the Swan Valley, near Perth, Western Australia.
Kim’s first position in the wine industry was during vintage with Houghton Wines in the Swan Valley. Following a successful vintage he decided to study Oenology and enrolled at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. Being a part-time distance education student allowed him to study whilst being able to gain more experience in the industry.
Kim went on to complete five years at Houghton Wines, before taking on a Winemaking opportunity at Chestnut Grove Wines in Manjimup.
During his three years at Chestnut Grove, the winery established itself as one of the best producers of Merlot in the country. The three vintages of Merlot received seven trophies, including Best Merlot at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show (twice), Best Merlot and runner-up in Winestate Magazine, and Best Merlot at the Royal Hobart Wine Show. In 2000, the Chestnut Grove Verdelho took out best WA white wine at the Royal Perth Wine Show.
In 2001, he completed a year as Winemaker at Leeuwin Estate, before taking on the Senior Winemaking position at Ferngrove Vineyards Estate in Frankland.
Kim is passionate about the Frankland River region and believes it is a fantastic region to grow grapes of high quality. He sees his involvement with Ferngrove as an outstanding opportunity to be involved in winemaking at the highest level.
In 2005 Kim was named Young Winemaker of the Year by Australian Wine Selectors in their inaugural Shining Lights awards to recognise outstanding achievers in the wine industry.
Vanessa Carson, Winemaker
After work experience in the Swan Valley at the age of 15, Vanessa decided she had found the career for her.
Vanessa completed a Bachelor of Science (Vit & Oen) at Curtin University (WA), where she won the annual Talijancich / Radoux Prize. This led to a vintage in the Medoc, Bordeaux in 1999.
Vanessa then travelled and worked internationally over the next two years, visiting Italy, other regions of France, and Germany. This was done intermittently with vintages back in Australia.
Vanessa has worked in most regions in WA, including Swan Valley, Perth Hills, Margaret River and now Frankland River.
The quality of the fruit and the team environment is what brings Vanessa to Frankland River and Ferngrove. Vanessa believes the fruit grown in the Frankland River region to be the best in WA, allowing good concentration of flavours and structurally impressive wines.
