Dr Bill Wignall

Bill Wignall was born in Suva Fiji on 12 January 1930. His parents were Trevor and Gwendoline. His father was a surveyor. He was educated in Fiji and then studied as a veterinarian at Sydney University in 1947. His father became commissioner for native lands. Bill became a veterinarian in Maitland South Australia and then moved to Albany in Western Australia in the late 1960s. It was still frontier country and he was very busy in his business. He was interested in wine and did some research on the climate around Albany. He put in his first vines in 1982. He bought them from Cullens (mixed clones)and planted pinot. They can be difficult to grow but he had good soil with deep reserve moisture. He also planted Chardonnay. He had ten acres to start with and later another ten acres, increasing his varieties to include Cabernet and Shiraz. Up to 1997 he was contract winemaking for Plantagenet. He talks about the local wine association which aimed to market the region. He became Secretary/Treasurer. He had a very good response to his first vintage of Pinot and Chardonnay. It won the SGIO at the Perth Show in 1987 and won him a trip to France. He built his own winery in 1997 and the wine maker was Ben Kogi. He makes about 10,000 cases a year (110 tons). They do a lot of marketing through special events such as weddings, blues concerts etc. They need to develop their overseas market more. The winery will stay under family control