Australian-born Lynne Levin began her professional life in biochemistry before launching her career in hospitality in 1979. Early highlights included founding a pioneering restaurant and delicatessen and managing the Heathcore vineyard, both in Victoria, and owning and running Restaurant Clichy in Melbourne.
She went on to establish Melbourne’s first dedicated on-premise wine and liquor wholesale distribution company, and formed Gipps Street Cellars, a premium wine and produce store, which was rated among the top 10 Gourmet Food outlets in The Good Food Guide in 1986.
Extending her interests from Australia to international markets, she established Great Wine Estates in 2005 to deliver accessible export strategies to independent wineries.
Based in Europe since 2005, Lynne is now co-owner and producer of the organic Domaine Levin Wines (Certified Organic No 64932 / 12P ECOCERT) in the Loire Valley, France, managing the winery and 19 organic vineyards that produce the family’s Levin Wines brand. Lynne has driven many innovations to enhance the certified organic practice and biodynamic principles that express the family’s sustainable, handcrafted, authentic winemaking philosophy. Levin Wines organic and eco-sustainable practices include: hand picking, leaf plucking, certified organic and biodynamic vineyard preparations, high open spaced trellising, hand ploughing and green harvesting; bottling under screw cap, complete supply chain traceability and a commitment to soil conservation using companion planting and no-till agriculture. Lynne leads the winemaking team at Levin Wines and takes a hands-on role at directing both the aromatic fermentation process of individual vineyard parcels. She preserves the Levin style and quality during the tasting and final blend for Levin’s Village, Flagship and Premium Cuvée wines.