THE WINE FRONT

Interview by Adam Catford 

Name:
Peter Bissell

Age:
47

Where you currently make wine:
1996-Now, Balnaves of Coonawarra (where we also make wines for Parker Coonawarra Estate, Punters Corner Wines, and Murdock Wines )

Where you’ve made wine in the past:
I was winemaker at Wynn’s Coonawarra Estate 1989-1995, and I’ve also done vintages with John Vickery at Leo Buring, Andrew Pirie at Pipers Brook, Adam Wynn at Mountadam, one in Russia in 1993 and one in St Emilion/Pomerol in 1985 and two in the Languedoc in 1994 and 2000. I spent a year and a half in France in 1985/1986 and worked as assistant oenologist for A Moueix et Fils in Libourne before I studied at Roseworthy. The time I spent in Bordeaux was very influential on my view of winemaking.

What wines inspired you to make the wines you do today?
Bordeaux Cabernets from Pauillac, St Estephe and St Julien. The unapologetic tannin structures and muscle with great complexity.

Most significant wine you’ve ever drunk:
Penfolds Bin 60A 1962 and Wynns Michael Hermitage 1955

How was it?
Both great Coonawarra wines or Coonawarra dominant wines of fantastic complexity and enduring fruit freshness. Wines like these that age so well are rare.

Wine you’re most proud of having been associated with the making of?
There are a few I’m very proud of including Balnaves Tally 2001 and 2004, Parker First Growth 1999 and 2005 , Punters Spartacus Shiraz 1999- Jimmy Watson trophy winner in 2000, Wynns John Riddoch Cabernets from 1990 and 1991 but if I have to pick one it would be Wynns Centenary Shiraz –Cabernet 1991 – a one-off wine to celebrate 100 years of grape growing in Coonawarra and made to age in the Bill Redman style, I have a few magnums of this for my daughter Claudia’s 21^st I’m confident it will be drinking well in another 5 years .

Is there any wine you’ve been associated with the making of that, if you had your time again, you’d treat/make differently?
Plenty.

In your opinion, which wine style/grape variety does Australia and New Zealand , respectively, do best?
Australia - as a whole - Shiraz

New Zealand -as a whole- Pinot Noir

Other than the wineries you have worked with, which Australian/NZ winery is best represented in your personal cellar?
Majella and Clonakilla

Favourite wine region ( Australia ):
Eden Valley I have always loved Eden Valley Riesling.

Favourite wine region (world-wide):
St Emilion this is a beautiful village but also pure wine culture that has existed since roman times.

Favourite movie:
Men in Black 1

Favourite book (general):
Alexander Dumas “The Count of Monte Christo”

Favourite wine-related book:
Huon Hooke “Max Schubert Winemaker”. There are some real winemaking gems of information in this book.

Desert-island food-wine match:
Goats cheese and aged Cabernet Sauvignon.

How do you take your coffee?
Morning cappuccino with about half the milk volume, otherwise espresso no sugar. I am a fan of Ethiopian coffee its 1. the home of coffee trees and 2. I think the most complex and richest coffee.

What do you most love about the wine industry?
The diversity and room for individual expression, and the relaxed familiarity of the fairly small group of people, who work in the wine industry. Also I would say the value placed on sharing information and the willingness to value research and new innovations.

What do you most detest about the wine industry?
Not much really, as a corporate winemaker I was always disappointed that most wine marketers don’t stay in the same job for more than two years.

Any comments you would like to make in relation to the wine industry here or globally?
The financial viability of the wine industry looks quite pessimistic, however I think the fundamentals of the Australian wine industry are very good (provided we get rain); low cost land, low cost viticulture, economical winery sizes, ability to ripen fruit properly, well trained people, good research support, no suffocating bureaucracy, huge range of different climates to produce excellent wines of a wide range of styles. But we have to accept there will be a lot of capital tied up for a modest income. Most people in the wine world are in the business for the love of wine, and I cant see this changing.

How did you fare in the 2007 vintage?
We lost 90 per cent of our crop to frosts in October, however our best Cabernet vineyard and our best Chardonnay vineyard were under sprinklers and what wine we have is a good standard. Perversely the frost and drought have improved the business outlook for cool climate vineyards with access to water, such as the Limestone Coast .