Our People

Phil Sexton - Proprietor

Phil was brought up as one of seven children during the 1950s and 1960s in Busselton Western Australia. These were the early days of the Margaret River wine industry and he was profoundly influenced by the comprehension that wine promised the opportunity to engage in agriculture, the ether, art and science.

After a brief spell in the military training as a pilot, Phil returned home to study at university, later attending the university of Birmingham (England) to complete a Master of Science degree specialising in Brewing and Fermentation.

Returning to Australia, Phil studied Wine Science and Viticulture part time at Charles Sturt University (Wagga Wagga) while employed as Master Brewer at Swan Brewery in Western Australia. In 1981 he commenced the establishment of Devil’s Lair Winery in the Margaret River district. Phil also co-founded Little Creatures Brewing Company in Fremantle. When it was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2005, Phil stepped down as Chairman and Technical Director.

Giant Steps was first released in 2001, with Innocent Bystander following in 2004. In 2006 Phil completed the Winery/Cellar Door where gravity flow principles are used to create small batches of Giant Steps and Innocent Bystander wines.

Steve Flamsteed - Head Winemaker

Steve’s first qualification was in food, completing a four-year chef’s apprenticeship in Brisbane in the mid 1980s.

A keen skier, Steve travelled extensively through Europe, paying his way by cooking in small cafés, ski lodges and a 12-month stint at the St James Club in London.

During his travels Steve had the opportunity to embrace a number of his culinary passions, including cheese making. He would later return to France to study this trade.

However, it was after working at Chateau du Bluizard in the Beaujolais region that Steve was inspired to become a qualified winemaker.

On returning to Australia Steve enrolled in a winemaking course at Roseworthy Agricultural College, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Wine Science) in 1993, while at the same time supporting his studies working as a chef at Maggie Beer’s Pheasant Farm Restaurant in the Barossa Valley.

In 1994 Steve won a Queen’s Trust Scholarship to study farmhouse cheese making in France. On his return he spent a year working as a cheese maker in North Eastern Victoria at Milawa.

As a winemaker, Steve has worked for Leeuwin Estate (1999 – 2002), the Hardy Wine Company at their Yarra Burn Winery in Victoria’s Yarra Valley (2002 – 2003) and Giant Steps / Innocent Bystander (from 2003 to date).

His international experience include working as a Flying Winemaker for Bottle Green Wines in the South of France, two vintages with Domaine Paul Blanck in Alsace and five vintages in Brouilly at Chateau de Bluizard.

Steve is also a Len Evans Scholar and an experienced show judge.

Dave Mackintosh - Winemaker

Born and raised in the Manawatu and Hawkes Bay districts of New Zealand’s North Island, Dave comes from a long history of farmers. As a child Dave was constantly surrounded by agriculture and farming (and plenty of art too, thanks to his mother), it was no surprise when he developed an early interest in viticulture and the art of winemaking.

In 2002, after completing a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University, Christchurch, Dave was accepted onto the Delegat’s Wine Estate graduate program in Auckland. In this role he gained first hand experience as a cellar hand and laboratory supervisor for Oyster Bay wines before being promoted to Assistant Winemaker, a position he held for two years.

Keen to broaden his knowledge and expertise, Dave left the role in 2006 and worked at various wineries including Brokenwood Wines (Hunter Valley), Archery Summit (Oregon), Villa Maria Wine Estate (Marlborough) and Pernod-Ricard (Auckland) before accepting the position of Winemaker at Giant Steps / Innocent Bystander in January 2007.

When Dave isn’t busy in the winery he can generally be found in one of two places, either in front of a large canvas working on his latest painting or in front of a large TV screen watching the All Blacks play his favourite sport – Rugby Union.

Suzanne Tyzack - General Manager

The Woman Behind all the Men.
...pretty much says it all.

Josh Ogilvie - Marketing/PR
Josh Yeats - Management Accountant

The Men behind the Woman behind all the other Men...

Laurie Gutteridge - Cheesemonger

Laurie began his cheese obsession at Neal’s Yard Dairy, London and, lucky for us, moved across the seas with his dairy knowledge to become a cheesemonger in Melbourne. Laurie is a passionate exponent of the Slow Food movement, preserving traditional, artisan methods and has been invited to judge the Australian Specialist Cheesemaker Awards and CheeseFest.

Heath Farrow - Head Chef

Heath has been cooking for about 14 years. After completing an apprenticeship in his hometown, he moved to Melbourne and cut his teeth on South American cuisine. Heath then spent three years cooking international cuisine at Thyme on the Terrace in Warrandyte and another three years at the celebrated Vines Restaurant at Hellen’s Hill.

Heath moonlighted in far north Queensland during the winter months, cooking at Palm Cove’s iconic restaurant Vivo.

He moved back to the Yarra Valley in 2009 and begun with Innocent Bystander.

His guilty pleasure? Yum Cha. His Grandmother introduced him to it when he was about 6 or 7 and he’s loved it ever since. Heath is on a permanent quest to find the best Yum Cha and he indulges this pursuit as often as possible. His favourite dish is steamed bean curd… “I love its texture and flavour, and I find it fascinating to see each Chef’s individual interpretation of this classic dish.”

Erik Koel - Baker, eh

Born in Toronto Canada, Erik worked various restaurants through high school including a stint as a brunch cook at bir ritz restaurant/nightclub Mississauga Canada.
He studied film and philosophy at University of Western Ontario and then backpacked through Australia 1998-99, where he met an Australian girl who is now his wife.
Erik also travelled to Nepal, China and various European destinations beofre retuning to Canada.
He completed a culinary Arts diploma from Liason College Toronto Canada and graduated top of Class in 2000. In 2001 he returned to Australia and moved to Canbera where he worked at Dijon Restaurant, Ainslie and Fig tree Cafe, Griffith.
Wanting to learn about bread Erik went to work at Bruno's Truffels (that is the correct spelling). Added bonus - he learned how to make chocolate.
He worked at Silo Bakery, Kingston ACT before returning to Melbourne to take up position at Rathdowne St Food Store as second baker.
To gain further knowledge of confectionery he worked at SUGA candy kitchens in Melbourne and managed the store at QV.
Recently, Erik attended and passed the Introductory Course exam and seminar held by the Court of Master Sommeliers, and is currently studying hard (ie drinking lots of wine) in preparation for the Certified Sommelier exam later this year.

Emmanuelle Bremond - Cellar Door

Emmanuelle was born in Cannes on the picturesque French Riviera (Cote d’Azur). She grew up between the Mediterranean and the Alps… who has ever dreamt of having breakfast at the beach and 2 hours later skiing in alps?

In 2003 Manue decided to travel to improve her English for a year. She traveled to Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and ended up in Australia.

“I came to visit an Australian friend in Healesville one week end and never left… I loved it the countryside, the industry (food and wine!!!) and adored the community of Healesville”.

Needing to keep some French roots at the beginning of her immigration she worked at Dominque Portet for 3 years before joining us at Giant Steps in 2006.

A lot of customers ask her whether she misses the French food and culture… She responds ‘Are you joking? Here I taste wine every day, enjoy fresh bread every day and eat cheese every day… it’s exactly like home!’

Emmanuelle’s favourite wine at the moment? 2009 Innocent Bystander Rose – you can take a French girl out of the Provence, but you can’t take the Provence out of Frenchie!

Ross Lukje - Export Director
Andrew Vanderzeil - National Sales Manager

They wear striped shirts...

The wine sells itself.

And the rest of the fam...

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