Neil Prentice is one of Australia’s true wine identities. Part viticulture maverick, part scallywag (often seen instigating the dance floor at PinotPalooza), he has been at the forefront of biodynamics and Pinot production in Australia since the early 90’s. Growing up as a sommelier in the 80’s he developed an obsession for Burgundy, leading him to (in 1991) plant and farm Pinot Noir biodynamically on the family farm Walhalla, Gippsland. I’ve been a huge fan of these Pinot’s for many years and am humbled to bring them to the Perth trade, legit.

Neil’s wine styles have been heavily influenced by his original consultant wine makers: controversial Lebanese born Burgundy consultant Guy Accad, and Bruce Dowding who worked many vintages at J.F.Mugnier. Many of the techniques used are unique, and the resulting wines are unmistakably Moondarra, or as Neil call’s it “Pinot Noir’s with funkosite”

In Neil’s words: “I was a wine waiter, only because I’d never even heard what a sommelier was. People would ask me if I was a sommelier, and I’d have to explain that I didn’t have a smart enough haircut, or a beard, so I was just a wine guy. I picked up winegrowing really naturally, I did a lot of reading, and learnt a lot through that, but it always felt like a really natural thing for me to do. I don’t do biodynamics for any sort of altruistic reasons, it’s simply a result of my love of Burgundy. All those vineyards, at that stage, were switching over to BD, and I thought that if I’m trying to make the best wine I can, I need to be growing grapes that way”