As the saying goes, "the people make the brand". It's our people who tend the grapes, make the wine, tell the story and sell the wine. Then there's all the people who connect these jobs and outcomes together. Meet some of our people... these are just a small number of the bigger team at Wayfinder.
Our People
Paul McArdle
CEO
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Paul brings a wealth of international wine knowledge to his role at Wayfinder, and the entire team benefit from educational tastings and tours of the world through wine. Starting out in wholesale, he has pretty much had roles in every facet of the industry, including consulting, sales & marketing, and senior management roles with numerous wine brands. Paul is out and about during the year giving presentations and masterclasses; he's an easy choice having passed the UK Master of Wine tasting exam back in 2003.... an extremely tough test, even for the most dedicated wine aficionados.
Leah Clearwater
Direct-to-Consumer Business Manager
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Leah started off working in wine retail, then took a giant leap into academia with a PhD in Viticulture. She has dabbled in grape and wine research, worked in vineyard consulting for years, lectured at uni, enjoyed roles with distributors, sat on many boards, chaired a few, studied marketing, and then landed several different management roles with wineries..... along the way she's learned a lot. Her background and experience connects product - people - place in new and unique ways and above all, she loves making people happy with wine.
Andrew Trio
Winemaker
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WA born and bred, Andrew hightailed it to South Australia in his younger years to complete an Oenology Degree and cement his passion for winemaking. This launched him on a global adventure, working for brands in New Zealand, Germany and the United States. His biggest gig during this time was the Chief role at Corliss Estate, a top-tier, boutique winery in Washington State. The call home occurred in 2018 and he started at Wayfinder in 2021. Andrew loves being back in the inspiring surrounds of Margaret River, enjoying the regional lifestyle with his wife and two young daughters.
Yann Vaucher
Vineyard Manager
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Starting as a Somm in his native France, Yann was initally more interested in the winemaking side of things before he (literally) saw the light of working outdoors in the vineyard, where he believes the magic begins. His first role in Australia saw him working in Orange, NSW, before the lure of the surf and the pristine vineyards of Margaret River brought him to WA. After 8 years with Juniper Estate, he took on the role of managing our organic vineyards at Wayfinder. Yann is passionate about combining the art and science of grapegrowing and he already knows each row in our vineyard like the back of his hand.