A life shaped by wine
From a childhood surrounded by wine in Melbourne, through formative years in California, to establishing a vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula, Tod and Debbie’s journey has been guided by experience, passion, and an unwavering respect for the land.
Tod Dexter grew up with wine. A childhood friendship with one of Melbourne’s leading wine merchants, the Crittenden family, introduced him to the vast and captivating world of wine.
“A childhood friendship opened the door to a world of wine.”
It was then no surprise that in 1974, after a ski season in the United States, Tod found himself in the Napa Valley where he spent seven years working at one of California’s premier family wineries, Cakebread Cellars.
Tod returned to Australia in January 1987. After an extensive search, he and his wife Debbie purchased a vineyard site at Tuerong on the Mornington Peninsula. Later that year, they planted their first 1.6 hectares of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Soon after, Tod then joined Brian Stonier at Stonier Wines as head winemaker. Over the next decade, Tod and Brian grew the company into one of Australia’s leading producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines Tod created received numerous accolades at home and abroad, while the Dexter vineyard supplied reserve-grade fruit to Stonier under Tod and Debbie’s careful stewardship.
A formative trip to France in 2000, visiting some of the world’s most celebrated Pinot Noir producers, deepened Tod and Debbie’s appreciation for terroir and reinforced their sense of responsibility to caring for the land for future generations. It also sharpened Tod’s understanding of meticulous vineyard and winery management.
Inspired by this journey, Tod and Debbie took the next step: producing their own wine from the vineyard they had nurtured through its formative years.
