Ray Nadeson – Owner and Winemaker
Ray came to the wine industry from an academic background. After spending 10 years researching and teaching neuroscience at Monash University, Ray's passion for wine led him and partner Maree Collis together with friend Adrian Thomas to establish their own wine company. For 8 years Ray continued his academic career, publishing extensively in the area of pain research whilst at the same time establishing Lethbridge Wines and earning his degree in winemaking from Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. In 2003 Ray decided that Lethbridge Wines needed his full commitment and, with some trepidation, jumped in with both feet .Ray's role is multi-faceted, he is responsible for overseeing the vineyard work at Lethbridge and together with his partner Maree makes all of the wines for Lethbridge Wines. He also undertakes contract winemaking for a number of small premium producers, including Yarraloch, Oakdene Vineyards, Kurabana Estate, Leura Park, Hatrock, Feehans Rd, and Moorabool Ridge. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Maree Collis – Owner, Winemaker, Financial Controller
Maree was a hard-working dedicated scientist working in area of medicinal chemistry research for the biotech company AMRAD when she was led drastically astray by Ray Nadeson and Adrian Thomas. One Burgundy too many and she had agreed to spend all her money and weekends toiling on the vineyard and in the winery. Maree was central to the establishment of Lethbridge Wines in 1996, and in the same year undertook studying for a Winemaking degree at Charles Sturt University, NSW.In 2000, after the birth of Maree and Ray's first daughter (Indra), Maree took an opportunity to use her chemistry knowledge in a role with the Environment Protection Authority. Over the next five years she had two more daughters (Allegra and Mietta) and continued working to protect the environment, as well as maintaining her involvement in Lethbridge Wines. In 2006 with birth of Hugo, Maree decided to devote herself wholly to Lethbridge Wines and here now brood of four. She is active in all areas of the business, from being engaged in winemaking during vintage to heading up the marketing and financial side of the operation. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Adrian Thomas – Owner and Wine Lover
Adrian is not your average doctor with a vineyard. In the mid 1990s Adrian was working as a cardiovascular physician and undertaking a PhD in epidemiology looking at the role of vitamin E in the development of cardiovascular disease. However, his personal preference for delaying the onset of such disease was to imbibe in Grand Cru Burgundies. His love of great wine led him to join with Ray Nadeson and Maree Collis to establish Lethbridge Wines.Adrian is currently working in a senior role at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals in the United States. He makes regular visits to Lethbridge and lends his extremely well-honed palate to many of the blending decisions.
Max and Joey – Public Relations Officers
No Winery is complete without it's meet-and-greet person. Max our Border Terrier pup and Joey our Poodle pup have taken up his responsibilities with gusto, following in the best traditions of our much loved Jack Russell, "Bosun".Doug Neal – "The Blender"
Doug's involvement with the wine industry stretches back 25 yrs. It started when he first spurned Naughtons in favour of Jimmy Watson's whilst studying History at Melbourne University in the 1980's. His weekends and holidays invariably saw him cruising the Australian wine regions in his sleek; state of the art sun burnt orange Leland P76.In 1985 he started work at Armadale Cellars at the time when Giaconda wines first came on the market and through this association became friends with Rick Kinzbrunner. It wasn't long before his weekends and holidays were spent at Giaconda in the vineyard and winery. For the next 15 years Doug helped in the winery, at bottling and with sales and promotions, all the while working on the development of a highly trained palate.
In between vintages at Giaconda, Doug has been involved in vintage at Louis Latour in Aloxe Corton, Burgundy. He also spent time in California visiting wineries that were on the cutting edge and it was here that together with Rick he discovered Bossuet barrels.
Doug now solely represents Tonnellerie Bossuet for Australia and New Zealand and his client list reads like a Who's Who of Australian Wine. His extensive experience and excellent palate has made him highly sought after. Over the past few years he has been involved with a number of wineries assisting with blending and style decisions, including Castagna, Chestnut Hill, Bannockburn and, as of 2004/05, Lethbridge Wines.
Alex Byrne – Assistant Winemaker
Also Featuring
No small vineyard and winery could survive without the enthusiastic help of committed friends. There are three in particular that we would like to acknowledge as we they are always there when needed, pruning in the freezing cold, working the night shift during vintage, and being a calming influence on those high stress bottling days.