Our People

Norm Doole (Co-owner)

Born and educated in Winnipeg, Canada, Norm Doole is having a very busy life.  During his time as Vice President National Bank of Canada (Asia) based in Japan, he visited McLaren Vale once too often.  He bumped into architect Drew Dowie in 1984, had him design a home on the Range, and by 1993 he was growing grapes in the revered vineyard he’d bought with his wife Jane on California Road.  Norm’s fruit is sought after by some highly glamorous names, but the best goes to DOWIE DOOLE.  Norm’s a Director of Boar’s Rock winery, a Board member of McLaren Vale Wine Industry Ltd, and Chairman of the Willunga Basin Water Co, a private business that supplies McLaren Vale vineyards with recycled water.

Drew Dowie (Co-owner)

Drew’s from a great Adelaide family that’s overloaded with artists, adventurers and intellectuals. He’s a partner in Angus + Dowie, an architectural firm specializing in winery design.  With his partner Lulu Lunn and their daughters, they live on their beautiful old Tintookie Vineyard at Blewitt Springs in the northern uplands of McLaren Vale.  Lulu’s the viti boss: she was Cellar Manager at Wirra Wirra Vineyards and spent years working with David Paxton, one of Australia’s most far-sighted viticulture consultants.

Leigh Gilligan (Co-owner & Managing Director)

Having graduated from Macquarie and Adelaide Universities, and done his time teaching secondary school, Leigh has managed national and international wine marketing and sales for thirty years. Having served long stints at Wirra Wirra Vineyards, McLaren Vale, and Rymill Winery, Coonawarra, he became a shareholder at Boar’s Rock winery and also manages DOWIE DOOLE on a day-to-day basis.  Leigh has the Old Rifle Range Vineyard in the foothills which produces dry-grown Shiraz.

Brian Light (Winemaker)

Brian has been making wine for DOWIE DOOLE since the company's inception and always crafts distinctive, delicious wines.  During his four decades of winemaking, he has produced wine in many different countries, regularly travelling the world to oversee vintages and production on behalf of international wine companies.  Winning Bushing King of McLaren Vale in 1989 and 1996, Australasian Winemaker of the Year - 1987/88 and accruing numerous international and domestic trophies is testament to his skills as a winemaker.  Besides all that... he's a top bloke, always unflappable and ever cheerful.

Phil Joiner (Sales & Marketing Manager)

Phil has fifteen years industry experience with three of those as a Dowie Dooler.  He began his career with industry leader Mildara Blass (and then Beringer Blass) where he managed initiatives across the wine business chain including sales, trade marketing, marketing and finance over 10 years of service.  Using this experience Phil is charged with bringing new product and brand initiatives to the group, further developing our domestic distributor relationships and improving our brands, domestic trade and consumer franchise.

Lyn Moss (Administration Manager)

Lyn started her working life as a nurse and is ending it as an accountant.  Lyn commenced working for DOWIE DOOLE as our Administration Manager in September 2008.  Packed in her wine case was her Bachelor of Commerce, professional years in an accounting office and commercial experience working in the wine industry.  She likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.  She's not much into health foods but loves great McLaren Vale chenin!
 
Sami Gilligan (Viticulturist)

Sami has been managing vineyards in McLaren Vale for the past eleven years.  He lived and worked in Coonawarra for two years but has spent the rest of his life living in McLaren Vale.  He has undertaken vintages in Coonawarra, Hunter Valley, Sonoma Valley (California) and McLaren Vale.  Sami is a very hard man to get hold of!  Besides managing the DOWIE DOOLE vineyards he owns and manages a vineyard contracting business as well as a transport company.  He enjoys spending time with his wife Robyn and their two young boys Mali and Finn, who always keep him on his toes!

Lulu Lunn (Viticulturist)

Lulu has been working in the wine industry since 1982; firstly in the cellar and lab at Petaluma then at Wirra Wirra in the vineyard working for David Paxton.  During this time she had her two beautiful girls, Rosie and Lexi.  She retired briefly in 1993 after being bitten by a brown snake but then she and her husband Drew bought the Tintookie Vineyards in 1994 (home of our precious chenin grapes) and she has run it ever since.  Lulu also has a love for fine food and works part time in cheese making and retailing and owns and milks three goats daily for cheese.

Dave Gartelmann (Viticulturist)

Dave was born in the desert, grew up in the Adelaide Hills and started working in the wine industry in 1988 "while figuring out what to do with his life."  Since then he's worked in the US, NZ, South Africa and Italy.  He has become increasingly focused on holistic/ minimal/ sustainable/ earth friendly and organic ways to farm as he looks deeper into the relationship between soil and plant health and truly great wines. Dave has managed Norm Doole's vineyards since 1999 but has known this piece of land for 21 years. He has also found the great wine regions of the world a perfect fit for his other loves… food and cycling. Dave finds the growing and making of food a constant fascination, nicely balanced by the many hours he spends on a bike. He was particularly chuffed to find out that he has recently qualified to become canon fodder at the world (that’s right... world) 24hr solo mountain bike championships in October... we feel a DD sponsorship coming on!   

Linda Popp (Cellar Door Manager)

Linda's introduction to wine came at a tender age with her grandparents making their own wines in the backyard for the family.  With Italian heritage she was born and educated in Otago, NZ.  She now considers herself a fully fledged Aussie except when an Australian / New Zealand rugby match is being played then she turns into a screaming All Black supporter!  Linda owned her own business for 7 years, worked in hospitality with QANTAS for 7 years before joining the DOWIE DOOLE Cellar Door team in August 2006.  In January 2009, Linda took over Nicole's role as Cellar Door Manager.  She loves having a good chat with our customers.  Her favourite saying, as she looks out over the vines from Cellar Door, "I wonder what everyone who works in an office is doing right now!"

Nicole Greener (Marketing Services Manager)

After completing a Bachelor of Cultural Tourism, Nicole undertook cellar door stints in the Adelaide Hills before becoming the Cellar Door Manager for the new DOWIE DOOLE Cellar Door which opened in August 2006.  To keep herself out of trouble she undertook a Masters in Wine Business at Adelaide University which she completed in 2009.  She and her husband Paul lived in the UK for nine months in 2009, travelling extensively throughout Europe eating, drinking and pretending to work for DOWIE DOOLE while visiting many of Europe's famous wine regions.  February 2010 sees her working full time for us looking after marketing.