Ben Cane

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Benjamin Cane is an Australian winemaker who owns Duke's Vineyard in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Organic Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Adelaide and a postgraduate diploma in oenology in 1998. While studying, he worked in a vineyard, a cellar, and ran a bottle shop. After graduation, he worked for Simon Gilbert Wine Services in the Hunter Valley.

His love for Pinot Noir began as an assistant winemaker at Arcadian Winery in Santa Barbara County, California. After Arcadian, he traveled through South America, Africa, Asia and Europe before returning to Australia to become a vineyard manager in the Barossa Valley. In the following years he held jobs in the Languedoc (France), New South Wales, Domaine Dujac in Morey-St-Denis (France), De Bortoli Wines in the Yarra Valley, Poderi Colla in Piedmont (Italy), and Yalumba in the Barossa Valley, gaining insight into French and Italian winemaking.

In 2006 he returned to the United States as a contract winemaker at Freestone Vineyards. In 2007 the Duncan Family of Silver Oak hired him as an assistant winemaker at Twomey Cellars to develop the Pinot Noir program, and in 2008 he began overseeing Sauvignon Blanc. He started with Twomey’s Russian River Valley WestPin vineyard and later expanded to Anderson Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley. His aim at Twomey was to craft wines that express each vineyard’s terroir with balance, blending old-world techniques with new-world innovation. By 2013 he had produced seven Pinot Noir vintages for Twomey.

In October 2013 Ben left Twomey to become Head Winemaker at Westwood in the Russian River Valley AVA. He redesigned the brand and winery, oversaw a 23-acre estate vineyard with several Pinot Noir clones, Chardonnay and Rhône varietals, and worked with biodynamic expert Philippe Coderey to achieve biodynamic certification for the estate in 2017. The wines earned high praise, including a triple crown at the 2016 Sonoma Coast Wine Challenge.

In late 2018 Ben became Winemaker at Cape Mentelle Winery in Margaret River, Western Australia (then owned by LVMH). Over three years there, he helped oversee production of 60,000–100,000 cases and supported viticulture over 130 hectares. He also served as the brand’s technical voice to trade, media, consumers, and staff across LVMH.