Originally from Ireland the Williamson and Doyle families settled in Australia some
200 years ago. Farmers by nature, the families developed properties growing
alfalfa and breeding sheep and cattle. Returning from the Air Force after World War II, Hugh Williamson and his new wife Mary Doyle-Williamson left the family farms in the care of their brothers and moved to the city of Sydney where their son, Bill was born.

Growing up in Sydney but spending his vacations on the family farm, Bill developed an affinity for both city and country lifestyles. Educated in business and computer science, Bill co-founded a successful software startup in Australia where he met his future wife, Dawn.

In 1980, Bill and Dawn moved to San Francisco to participate in the Silicon Valley technology revolution. Here, their second start-up software venture also proved successful. Eleven years later they sold their company and moved to their current home on a vineyard property in Dry Creek Valley.

During the course of his business life, Bill worked with some of Australia’s major wineries developing an understanding of the wine industry to complement his existing love for fine wines.

Their passion for fine wine has driven them to develop premium wine grape crops. Employing sustainable farming techniques and limiting production yield to ensure quality, they originally sold their grapes to a major local winery.

In 2002 the Australian-born Williamson husband-and-wife team decided they would produce and sell their own range of premium quality California wines. This meant they would have to take control of the entire grape-to-glass process starting in the vineyard and ending with the bottling and sales of their wines.

After significant research they developed a vineyard management methodology requiring adjustment of the soil chemistry, balance of micro nutrients and macro nutrients; trellis and vine spacing to control vigor, effective canopy management techniques and multi-varietal planting to ensure only estate wines were used in the final Williamson Wines product.