Crispian Fielke is Decant Wines’ key On-Premise Account Manager.

He was born and raised in Loxton, SA, on a beautiful farm planted to wheat, barley & oats.  He completed his schooling in Adelaide and was immediately drawn to hospitality, working in some of Adelaide's most colourful restaurants and cafes.

An intense passion for the hospitality industry and a healthy dose of curiosity led him to Europe, where for two life-changing years he honed his service skills in some of Belfast and London's best restaurants.

Crispian returned to Adelaide in 2005.  He immediately felt he had more to offer and set his sights on a job with Decant Wines.  After nagging Nigel for many months and plying him with numerous schooners of beer, Nigel was convinced;  Crispian was the right man for Decant!  Tom however was not so easily swayed.  After many meetings, more beer, and numerous questions about his haircut and scooter, Tom relented and Crispian joined the Decant Wines team.

Crispian has a wife, a daughter, a son and a dog called Otto.  He loves a lot of things, most notably:  wine with a sense of place, the St Kilda Football Club, brewing beer, all sorts of music, parsley, the Central market and a good, lippy game of backyard cricket.

Brett Doonan is Decant Wines’ Area Manager.

He was born into a very large family in Salisbury and moved to the Southern Vales when he was seven.  A studious chap, he took more than a passing interest in viticulture and completed a TAFE course in vineyard management in his senior year.

After matriculating from Willunga High School he embarked on a career in retail, first with supermarkets then with a prominent SA hotel group based in Glenelg working his way up to retail Operations Manager.

Decant Wines called on Brett once a month for three years.  Despite buying very little from them, Tom could see the potential lurking beneath Brett’s gruff retail exterior and, when the time was right, introduced him to Nigel.  In 2007 Tom offered Brett a job with a reasonable salary and a nice car over chocolate Gelato in a Glenelg cafe.

Brett has a big house with a pool, perfect for his partner and expanding family.  He loves power tools, working with wood, weekend trips to Bunnings, feature walls and his bass guitar.  He is a devilishly good cricket all-rounder, is yet to be convinced of Pinot Noir’s virtues and just can't understand why Tom and Crispian believe Stevie Wonder is wort listening to.

Nigel Thomas is Decant Wines’ founding Director and General Manager.

He was born into a farming family in SA’s Mid North and lived there until the age of 10 before the family moved to Southern NSW.  Upon completing his secondary education he decided that farming was definitely not for him!

Nigel attended Charles Sturt University and came away with a Bachelor of Business.  He worked in a bank and with various accounting firms before deciding that accounting definitely was not for him either!

Whilst living in the UK in the early 90’s Nigel found his called: wine and travel.  Upon his return to Australia he decided to live in Adelaide and become a full time student.  He completed The Associate Diploma of Wine Marketing in 1994 and started work with a local wine wholesaler soon after.  After eight years, two as National Sales manager, Nigel decided to steer his own ship.  Decant Wines was born in 2003 with two wineries, no money, a great deal to lose, and the single minded determination needed for success.

Nigel lives with a chocolate Burmese called Prickle and has a very large garden.  He still travels to exotic destinations every year, never gets tired of Absolutely Fabulous reruns, grows the best guavas in SA, loves Rum, Gin and Single Malt Whisky, shiny new gadgets and can eat curry six out of seven nights a week.

Tom Grant is often referred to as Decant Wines’ other Director, and is in charge of Sales and Marketing.

He was born, raised and educated in Sydney, and studied at Newcastle University.  He followed the love of his life to Japan, lived there for 6 years teaching English conversation to infants and the elderly and importing a bit of wine on the side.  He returned to Sydney at the dawn of the Millennium to have babies.

In 2000 Tom talked his way into a job at a newly opened restaurant and bar complex in Sydney’s Martin Place and was introduced to a great many people in the Australian wine industry.  Tom left in 2002 to work as a Brand Development Manager for a Mudgee winery.  The constant interstate travel and daily grind of Sydney life convinced him that life had to be better for his small family elsewhere!

Turning up in Adelaide in April 2003 without a job or a home he soon realized that he needed to make friends with the locals and gain a basic understanding of the local football code.  One of those new friends, a staunch ‘Redlegs’ supporter, introduced him to Nigel Thomas and his fledgling wine business. Nigel offered Tom a job with low pay, reasonable hours, the odd boozy lunch and a black car.  Within 18 months Nigel and Tom were business partners and the Decant vision crystallised.

Tom now has a nice home in the Adelaide hills, is still married to the love of his life and has three children.  He likes, amongst other things:  Rugby, Crispian’s beer, anything with Montrachet in it, mowing the lawn, good architecture, fresh sage leaves and American politics.
 

Paula Hommersham is Decant Wines’ part time Merchandiser and Administration Assistant.

She was born in Walford, England, home to Elton John, George Michael and the Spice Girls, and immigrated to Australia at the tender age of four.  Her family settled in O’Halloran Hill, where she had a typical Aussie childhood but couldn't shake off her musical heritage, stealing the show in the rock eisteddfod in her senior year.

Upon graduating from Reynella East High she launched into a career as a dental nurse where she asked patients far too many questions whilst the dentist was working.  Paula thought it best to try fashion retail, where her gift for conversation could be better utilized.

Whilst working in the UK in the early nineties she met a Tex Perkins lookalike who stole her heart.  She followed him to the US and then back to Australia, opened a restaurant, enrolled in a Wine Marketing degree, started a family and was introduced to Decant Wines.  Tom thought she would be perfect for tastings and has been proved right nearly every weekend since.

Paula is renovating the house she shares with “Tex” and their three children.  She believes dairy should be the main food group, is a complete Champagne snob, and loves yellow, long coats, long boots and anything retro.  The last concert Paula attended was ‘Play School Live’ at Norwood Town Hall.
 

Mark Flounders is Decant Wines’ Area Manager.

He was born in Stockton on Tees England and moved to Australia with his family as a youngster settling in the North East Suburbs where the wide streets and rolling hills reminded his family of the English North East. His parents sent him to Rostrever College where he excelled at cricket, soccer and all things physical.

After school the old country beckoned and Australia nearly lost him forever. Returning for his family in 2002 Mark worked in a few jobs before finding direction in the Army Reserves including two months of Special Forces training. Landing a job at the National Wine Centre in 2006 he found a passion for wine and business and enrolled in a bachelor of Commerce and a bachelor of wine marketing to keep life interesting.

Mark applied for a job with Decant wines in 2011 and was easily the most confident applicant. Impressed by his communication skills, positive attitude and dogged determination Nigel and Tom offered him a job after two gruelling interviews.

Mark hopes to one-day buy a house with his partner, likes inappropriate jokes, Ricky Gervais, his PS3, cricket, soccer, AFL and rum. He is a die-hard Collingwood supporter, follows Middlesbrough FC and is proud of his English heritage. He dislikes fetta, the Australian Cricket team, goats and anything made from goat.