Team

Born in 1973, Darren’s love of wine started at home. Growing up in a family that enjoyed wine and food, wine was always part of the Rathbone’s family meals. Even when Darren was young, having a sip of wine from his Dad’s glass was a special treat.

This personal passion began its ascent in 1995. Upon Darren’s graduation from Chemical Engineering, his father Doug Rathbone and uncle Graeme Rathbone purchased a vineyard site in the Yarra Valley. Darren’s first job was planting vines in this vineyard, which was named in honour of their grandmother, Laura Barnes. It was around this point that Doug noted Darren’s enthusiasm, believing it was “too big to be a hobby, too small to be a business” in its then-current guise.

In the years that followed, the Rathbone Wine Group was formed by the Rathbone family. Darren was instrumental in developing Yering Station into the iconic brand and operation that it is today. He worked hard in establishing the winery, the vineyards, the highly-awarded tourism operation and the passionate long-serving team from the ground up. In 1996 Yering Station formed a joint venture with Champagne Devaux to create Yarrabank. Yering Station’s first vintage in the newly built winery took place in 1997, marking Darren’s first winemaking experience in Australia.

Brendan Hawker is the Senior Winemaker at Yering Station, leading the winemaking team with passion and integrity at the core.

Brendan describes his beginnings in wine as somewhat unorthodox. Growing up in the Adelaide Hills, wine was always a point of interest for Brendan. Some of his fond childhood memories include the local weatherman covering the much-anticipated vintage conditions each season. Brendan’s journey into the world of winemaking began during a gap year post high school. “The decision was entirely based on how interesting and diverse I believed this exciting industry to be. And it was certainly the right choice; I hit the ground running with enthusiasm and have never looked back.” Over a decade later, Brendan is an accomplished, highly respected winemaker in the Yarra Valley and beyond.

Amanda is a welcome addition to the Yering Station team, joining us in second half of 2022 in the role of Winemaker.

With roots in both the music industry and hospitality management, Amanda’s love of wine was sparked whilst she was managing world-class fine dining restaurants. She recalls, “I vividly remember the first time I had a Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a Vouvray and a German sparkling Riesling. A whole new world opened in these wines, and an understanding that this is a passion where I’ll never stop learning.”

After over a decade in fine dining restaurants and the birth of her first child, Amanda took the leap in transforming her passion in wine into a life-long career.

One of the longest-serving employees at Yering Station, Garry joined our team in 2006. Affectionately referred to as the ‘backbone of our cellar’, Garry’s commitment and dedication has always been unwavering.

Originally employed in the bottling line, Garry progressed by taking on

Born and bred in country Victoria, Rod has followed his connection to the land from a young age. Growing up on the Murray River, a local winery inspired his early interest in viticulture. Rod says, “I was always going to be a farmer, it just felt right.”

Moving to the Yarra Valley after high school, Rod worked at Hardy’s Wines while studying viticulture at Melbourne University. Equipped with knowledge, Rod then moved into a vineyard management role in the Murrundindi region before setting up his own viticultural consultancy business with contracts throughout the Yarra Valley.

After the devastating 2009 fires in the area, Rod decided to take a break from viticulture and embarked on a career change in

Colin proudly assumes the role of Head Chef in our signature Yarra Valley restaurant. Boasting a solid French pedigree, Colin has worked alongside some of the industry’s very best chefs; from starting his career with Stephanie Alexander in her renowned Hawthorn institution, to The Windsor Hotel in Melbourne’s CBD, to then honing his skills with acclaimed chef Philippe Mouchel at Paul Bocuse and Langton’s.

Colin is no stranger to being at the helm of Yering Station’s kitchen, having spent considerable time with us in our early days of laying our estate’s foundations in 2001 through to 2009. At that integral time, Colin played a key role in shaping our estate experience to garner its cache as the celebrated culinary destination it is today. Colin continued working with the Rathbone Wine Group, moving to another internal role at 360Q in Queenscliff where he spent another three years establishing its restaurant. Moving from seaside Victoria to re-join his family in the Yarra Valley, Colin then moved on to head-up the kitchen team at Olivigna Estate, a restaurant using estate-grown produce in its modern Mediterranean dishes.

With over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Rachael oversees the management of Yering Station’s cellar door, restaurant and events operations.

Commencing her career in luxury hotels and resorts, Rachael’s first hospitality appointment was in Hayman Island while under Ansett ownership. After two years, she returned to her home town of Melbourne, working with the esteemed Grand Hyatt Melbourne and Max’s Restaurant.

Joining the team at Yering Station in 2000, Rachael was recruited to develop a function department at the newly opened Yarra Valley estate.