Team Expertise

 
 
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TOBY PIETERS

Owner & Managing Director

Toby brings a lifetime of small business experience and entrepreneurship to the team having started his career in the ceramic tile family business which saw him became General Manager, before the age of 20. 
It is in this role he first experienced bringing innovation and technology into existing business processes, purchasing the first large format ceramic screen printing press in Australia. Moving on from the family business Toby set his sights on building  becoming a commercial and residential registered builder, all while managing the finances  of Latitude Insights the company he and his partner  founded in 2007.

In 2014, Toby and his partner Dianne embarked on a new adventure in the wine world, purchasing Rahona Valley vineyard, on the Mornington Peninsula.  It is here Toby fell in love with sparkling wine, and within 5 short years he had established the vision for the Australian Cuvee Centre, working in  partnership with one of Australia's most experienced sparkling winemakers, Natalie Fryar.

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NATALIE FRYAR

Chief Winemaker 

Growing up in wine region Natalie Fryar completed school work experience with Hardys winery at age 14 and at 16 she did her very first vintage. Natalie has enjoyed a stellar career that has taken her all over the world from Great Western to Champagne and Tasmania. 

Known in the industry as “the Queen of Bubbles”, Natalie was for over 14 years the winemaker at Jansz Tasmania, helping to establish it as a leading Australian sparkling wine specialist.

Today she has her own sparkling wine company Bellebonne who is only one of two wineries in Australia to be awarded 7 stars by international renowned wine judge Tyson Stelzer. She also a gin company Abel Gin and consults to numerous wineries, including Pipers Brook Vineyard, who make sparkling wine under the Kreglinger, Pipers Brook and Ninth Island labels. 

In late 2018 Natalie became Rahona Valley’s sparkling wine consultant and in 2019 became the Chief winemaker for the Australian Cuvee Centre.

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ALISDAIR PARK

Senior Winemaker

Developing a passion for wine while working in the events industry in Sydney, Alisdair opted for a change in career and graduated with a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology from the University of Adelaide in 2013.

He has undertaken vintages in several regions in Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Training as an assistant wine maker with Hardys, Alisdair worked in the Arras sparkling wine program for several years under Ed Carr, where he gained a passion for crafting quality sparkling wine. During this time he had the opportunity to undertake a vintage at the sparkling wine house Nyetimber in the UK which gave him further experience in cold climate wine production.

Since moving to Victoria in 2018 Alisdair has furthered his interest in producing wines from cool climate regions and joined the Australian Cuvee Centre to focus on producing top quality sparkling wines.