How it started
History
Leeuwin Estate was established in 1973 by Denis and Tricia Horgan. The land was previously used as a cattle station and after having been purchased as part of a deal to buy a plumbing business by Denis Horgan in 1969, the land was converted to vineyards based on the advice of the Western Australian Department of Agriculture.
Robert Mondavi provided significant advice during the planning and setup stages of the estate after contacting the Horgans in 1972 to promote the potential that Margaret River had as a wine region and to look for investment opportunities. Initial plantings consisted of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot noir.
Bob Cartwright was appointed as head winemaker in 1978. In the same year that Cartwright was appointed, the first vintage of wines were made. The vines had reached maturity and could provide enough grapes for commercial production and bottling levels. Cartwright held the position of head winemaker for 28 consecutive vintages until retiring in September 2005.
The current senior winemaker is Tim Lovett. The winery is still owned by Denis and Tricia Horgan, with their son Justin and daughter Simone working as the company Joint Chief Executive Officers.
Denis Horgan was awarded a Centenary Medal and both he and Tricia Horgan were inducted as Members of the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to tourism in Western Australia.
From Wikipedia’s article on Leeuwin Estate, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2