René Bezemer
Chief Winemaker
René Bezemer was born in 1969 at George Town, a seaside village nestled on the banks at the mouth of the Tamar River in northern Tasmania.
He joined Pipers Brook Vineyard as a 19 year old in 1988 and was employed initially as a Painter/Decorator, but was quickly moved into the winery a year later.
After starting as a cellar hand, René progressed to Winery Manager and Assistant Winemaker in 1995. During his time at the winery, René has seen the company grow from a crush of 200 tonnes using comparatively basic winemaking resources through to today which sees a crush closer to 2000 tonnes using some of the most technologically advanced winemaking equipment available. As part of his continued search for excellence, and to ensure that the winery retained its position as one of the New Worlds finest, René visited the northern hemisphere in 2000, completing the vintage in France at Languedoc, Rousillon as well as spending three weeks in California's Napa Valley. René's time overseas was extremely beneficial and upon his return, a number of winemaking initiatives and style refinements were introduced which has seen the winery produce some of the most outstanding wines in its 30 year history in the last few vintages.
The highlights of René's career include the 1996 planning and implementation of the Tirage and Disgorging program for our sparkling wine production process as well as the creation of the liqueur de dosage used in our various vintage and non vintage styles. Subsequent to the acquisition of Pipers Brook Vineyard by Kreglinger Wine Estates, René was appointed Chief Winemaker of Kreglinger Wine Estates by CEO Paul de Moor.
Other than his passion for winemaking, René's other interests include sailing, skiing, bushwalking and food and wine matching.
