Steve James

Manager of Winemaking and Viticulture

Celebrating two decades at Voyager next year, Steve is the custodian of a rich winemaking tradition, fostered by close collaboration between the winemaking and viticulture teams.

From the outset, Steve has focused on sustainable farming, vine balance, clonal selection, and vineyard management in close liaison with the winery team. This focus has allowed the vines to shine and become more adept at expressing the purity and character of the individual vineyard blocks.

A driving force behind Voyager Estate’s transition to organic certification, Steve’s dedication to sustainability and superior quality fruit production was recognised by the Margaret River Wine Association when he was honoured with the inaugural Viticultural Excellence Award in 2006.

 

Travis Lemm

Winemaker & Winery Manager​

Hailing from Adelaide, Travis moved to Western Australia in the hope of securing a position with a leading Chardonnay producer. A week after his final Oenology exam, Travis started at Voyager Estate.

For almost a decade, Travis has skilfully guided winery operations from grape to bottle, with meticulous attention to detail underpinned by a scientific approach.

Driven by his quest to create the most site–specific expressive wines, Travis pushes the boundaries of what Voyager Estate can achieve, not only with our Chardonnay and Cabernet portfolio, but also with trialling new wines such as the Pet Nat, Sparkling Rosé and more.

 

​Glen Ryan

Vineyard Manager

Since joining Voyager Estate nearly twenty years ago, Glen’s dedication to fostering healthy leaf function has promoted the best fruit possible, enabling the development of true fruit characteristics, with ripeness and flavour intensity that translate effortlessly into the wines.

Glen’s days are spent amongst the vines. “It’s the little things you pick up in the vines that can lift the quality of fruit to the next level. You need to be out there to get a feel for each block and how it’s responding to the season. Timing is everything, and even more critical now with our shift to organic farming.”

 

Santiago Fernandez

Head Chef

Prior to starting with Voyager Estate in May 2017, Spanish-born Santiago (Santi) spent the past five years as Head Chef at Sault, in Daylesford, Victoria, coming to Margaret River with a real understanding of utilising seasonal produce and sourcing from local growers.

He established his culinary career amongst Michelin-starred restaurants, Tristan in Mallorca, Restaurant Toni Vicente, Santiago de Compostella and Tapies Restaurant, Lleida. His career has taken him from Spain to Germany, Mexico and Russia, working with small teams of four up to catering for 800 guests for the Spanish Kings Cup Sailing Competition.

Santi is excited by our ‘wine-first’ concept in our degustation menus, where every dish is carefully crafted to one of our wines.

“I would like to create food based in the region – with wine, we talk of terroir, or the place it comes from. I want to create food du terroir. Using produce that is seasonal, ethically sourced, such as sustainable seafood, and organic when possible. Margaret River’s fine wines are renowned across the world and the region also offers plenty of quality produce, which is always a great source of inspiration for chefs and cooks."

Claire Tonon

Sommelier

Claire Tonon’s future in wine was somewhat pre-determined. After her parents were married, they holidayed in the Clare Valley and fell in love with the surrounds, eventually deciding “Claire” was to be the name of their first little girl.

Now, with a wine career that covers cellar door management, events, wine education, marketing and export logistics, Claire was a natural fit for the new role of Sommelier at Voyager Estate.

Before joining the team in August 2011, Claire had spent eight years on a family-run vineyard in northern Italy – taking the time to complete the Associazione Italiana Sommelier course and mastering the Italian way of life, while managing the winery’s cellar door and running tours of the estate for guests.

Having settled in at Voyager, Claire is putting her secondary teaching qualification to good use by teaching the staff and visitors about viticulture and what to identify when tasting wines.

Through her work with the Estate, Claire has developed a number of benchmark tastings so staff members have an understanding of how Margaret River fares as a wine region on an international scale. You’ll also find her conducting a weekly Wine Essentials session for visitors, educating guests on just how much there is to learn about wine.