Peter works twice as hard as most of his peers. Since 2003 he has been Kinton's
flying winemaker, overseeing all viticulture and winemaking. When not making Syrah
in Santa Barbara, he's vinifying Grenache, Shiraz and Chardonnay at Yangarra
in Australia's famed McLaren Vale region. Working double shifts has given Peter
a unique perspective that is apparent to anyone who has tasted his wines.
At the ripe young age of 34, Peter has logged thousands of hours in the cellars and vineyards of Australia, Spain, France and the U.S. Prior to joining Kinton, Peter made wine at St Hallett in the Barossa Valley and Normans Wines, Clarendon. At Normans, Peter won the 2002 Winestate Wine of the Year for his 1998 Chais Clarendon Shiraz. His 2001 Yangarra Estate Shiraz and 2004 Cadenzia were both included in the 2003 Wine Spectator Top 100. In 2003 Peter was named one of the three finalists for the Australian Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year. In 2005 and 2006 he was selected as International Winery of the Year from Wine & Spirits.
Like most of today's top winemakers, Peter focuses much of his attention on the vineyards. For winemaking philosophy, Peter believes it is less about technique and more about preserving the essential taste of the vineyard. He knows that intelligent viticulture is the key to creating great wines. When it comes to harvest, Peter likes to do things the old-fashioned way: he picks by flavor, not numbers. While it's nice to understand the interplay between sugar, acid and pH, there's no substitute for a well-trained human palate.
For winemaking, Peter uses traditional methods including pre-soaks, indigenous yeast, open-top fermentations, hand punch downs, barrel fermentations, delestage (rack and return), and a variety of other labor-intensive techniques to create wines that are rich, lush, balanced and specific to their terroir.
At the ripe young age of 34, Peter has logged thousands of hours in the cellars and vineyards of Australia, Spain, France and the U.S. Prior to joining Kinton, Peter made wine at St Hallett in the Barossa Valley and Normans Wines, Clarendon. At Normans, Peter won the 2002 Winestate Wine of the Year for his 1998 Chais Clarendon Shiraz. His 2001 Yangarra Estate Shiraz and 2004 Cadenzia were both included in the 2003 Wine Spectator Top 100. In 2003 Peter was named one of the three finalists for the Australian Wine Society Young Winemaker of the Year. In 2005 and 2006 he was selected as International Winery of the Year from Wine & Spirits.
Like most of today's top winemakers, Peter focuses much of his attention on the vineyards. For winemaking philosophy, Peter believes it is less about technique and more about preserving the essential taste of the vineyard. He knows that intelligent viticulture is the key to creating great wines. When it comes to harvest, Peter likes to do things the old-fashioned way: he picks by flavor, not numbers. While it's nice to understand the interplay between sugar, acid and pH, there's no substitute for a well-trained human palate.
For winemaking, Peter uses traditional methods including pre-soaks, indigenous yeast, open-top fermentations, hand punch downs, barrel fermentations, delestage (rack and return), and a variety of other labor-intensive techniques to create wines that are rich, lush, balanced and specific to their terroir.