MEET THE MAKER - Peter Stanlake

MEET THE MAKER - PETER STANLAKE

I hope you enjoy this catch up with my good friend and winemaker Peter Stanlake. Pete has been crafting beautiful small batch wines in WA for over 20 years and is the winemaker responsible for many of the outstanding Geographe wines. He's also partly responsible for the path I have chosen in life, starting with the day he invited me to participate in the 2001 vintage at Hay Shed Hill in Margaret River. Thanks for making it fun Pete! (and for the good tunes and also for not yelling at me when I drove the forklift into stuff). 

Photo credit: www.thewest.com.au

How did you fall in love with wine?

I'm not sure. I may have fallen in love with getting drunk. 

Probably secret sips of mum and dad’s Skip n go naked and Porphyry Pearl. 

Tell us about your wine.

I make wine for many people. I’ve made some from a couple of favourite Geo vineyards under my fun yolo label and have aimed for grown up seriousness with my Comus Chardonnay and Cabernet

What was life for you before wine?

Varied, mobile, wet.

Who/what has influenced your approach as a winemaker?

A vintage at a legendary Sonoma winery called Sonoma Cutrer. 2500 t of whole bunch chardonnay. Working with Jurg Muggli at chateau Xanadu----Dees Eez boolsheet. Deez guise know nuzzing…..  (say it out loud)

Do you have a philosophy for winemaking, or a style you are aiming for?

Technically clean, balanced. Lots of flavour. Complexity in chardonnay.

A lot of thought about the vineyard site when making reds. 

Your most memorable wine?

I can’t remember.....

What is your favourite part of the winemaking/grapegrowing process?

The long vineyard walks with my dog during vintage. The peace, the smells and flavours. Pumpovers. Again. The smells and colours. The sensuality of wine.

When did you know it was time to start your own label??

I’ve had a few!!! When I felt an insatiable urge to make Grenache in 1996

Why did you choose to make wine from Mataro

The wine was destined for a blend but it was so delicate and fragrant that I bottled it alone.

What wine are you most proud of and why?

Geographe Chardonnay generally. We have found some great vineyards and are turning them into wold class wines. At this point Australia has noticed.

What do you wish you knew about winemaking before you took the plunge?

That vintage was so consuming.

What album gets you through vintage?

Quite a number.

Some albums associate with a year forever. Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire with 2007.

Monster Magnet with 1998

The Folk Implosion with 2001.

Starting an early drive around the vineyards is great with a bit of Sigur Ros or Chocolate Cake or something  similarly mellow

Banging on back with a bit of Peep Tempel or Deafheaven keeps me awake

What do you think the biggest myth surrounding wine is?

I’m allergic to sulphur.

Wine additives are evil even if they are very natural things like milk, egg white etc. 

What job would you be doing if you weren’t in the wine industry?

Librarian looking after a historic collection of 8 track and cassette tapes.

Wine blogger with the Wine Front

What is your favourite wine and food match?

Champagne and oysters is hard to beat

Winemaking – art or science?

Trade.

What grape varietal excites you the most to drink or produce?

Chardonnay

What grape variety is the most challenging to produce?

Grenache and Pinot

What wine region do you want to visit next? Why?

Mexico. Lots of cleansing ales after

If you could have one superpower what would it be?

Whatever Julian Langworthy has.

What is your greatest extravagance?

The expensive toupee I wear when I go nightclubbing

And books. Loads of them.