Leigh Clarnette started his career at Miller’s `Chateau Yarrinya’ in the Yarra Valley (now known as DeBortolli’s) in 1984. He then moved to TarraWarra Estate in 1986 until 1989. Originally they just made Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on the property, however Leigh was on the team under contract that started to make the sparkling base for Chandon Australia.
Padthaway Estate was calling in 1990 and Leigh was instrumental in setting up the first winery in the district, and installed a traditional wooden Champagne press in the floor.
Leigh continued to concentrate on specialising in Sparkling wines and was the Sparkling Winemaker at Seppelts between 1993 and 1998. He won many trophies for Seaview Pinot Noir/Chardonnay around Australia and his 1995 Seaview Chardonnay won Best Sparkling in Decanter in 1999.
As Chief winemaker at McPherson Wines, Nagambie in 1999 Leigh designed and set up a new bottling line, paving the way today for the winery to produce 2 million cases per year. He continued to consult through the Nagambie area until 2003.
The family then moved to the Pyrenees and Leigh was appointed Chief winemaker at Taltarni, Clover Hill vineyard. Between 2003 – 2006 Leigh created the Heathcote Shiraz which won many gold medals and was the driving force behind the 3 Monks concept, which is now one of Taltarni’s leading brands.
In 2006, the opportunity at Montara presented itself and Leigh was appointed Chief winemaker where today he continues to push the boundaries, creating many new brands for Montara and is excited about the potential of the fruit at Montara.
