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Penfold's red wine monument, Grange, has been regarded as the Fifth Continent's leading wine icon for over six decades and is the only wine to date to even be included on South Australia's protected heritage list. Since 2002, Peter Gago has been the winemaker responsible for this growth.

After Max Schubert, the legendary "father" of the Grange, Don Ditter and John Duval, the Englishman is as late as the fourth chief cellarer at Penfolds since 1948. Frank Kämmer MS interviewed him during the premiere of the current Grange vintage in Adelaide.

Priced at Aus$850 ex winery (620 Euros in Germany), the 2012 is the most expensive Grange to date. Will it also be the best Grange so far?

I'd like to answer yes, of course, but let's look at the competition: There's the 1953, the '55, the '62 and '63, '71 and '76 - 2012 is a contender for that squad, but ultimately only time will tell. Of course, I could say here now, the '12 Grange is the best we've ever made, it's fantastic, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.... But I wouldn't be 100 percent accurate in doing so. All I can say is that he is in that upper group. But only time can tell if he's at the top of that upper group or in the middle of it. But Grange is ultimately always somewhere pretty high up there. Even 2011 and 2000, which were difficult vintages, as difficult as 1974, which was perhaps the most challenging Grange ever. But the 1974 today, 42 years later, is still a beautiful wine - the smallest Grange we've made in half a century!

You know, James Halliday, the Australian wine writer, once wrote an article about the worst Grange in each decade. We gave him these wines to taste, I think it was the 2000, the 1992, 1984, 1974, 1969 and the 1959. And he wrote in this article that these wines are wonderful to drink today. Of course, this begs the question: if the worst Grange of each decade, including a wine from the 1950s, are still so wonderful to drink - what do the good ones taste like?

It's just all relative. I can't say if the 2012 will be the best because I actually don't know. I know it's very, very good, way above average, it's in that upper group. But is he at the top of that upper group? I don't know.

2012 is the tenth Grange vintage bottled under your leadership. Is there a specific "Peter Gago style" that stands out from that of your predecessors?

No, no, no... That is, I would like to say no, actually, but in some aspects perhaps there is. At Penfolds we always talk about the team, and that's actually the case and not just something we say. But of course there was a Max Schubert, a Don Ditter, and now it's just me in charge. We work as a team, but at the end of the day you can't make a big wine by committee. When you put together the blend at Krug in Champagne, it's not just Olivier Krug. He'll bring in a cellar master or two, maybe his uncle Remi, but at some point someone has to make the decision, left or right. Our team is a wonderful thing. There's not a bottle at Penfolds that would have my signature on it, we don't do that. The Penfolds way has always been real teamwork. Nevertheless, in my time since 2002, I think I've taken the Grange a little further in terms of balance, in terms of polish, in terms of vibrancy and less aggressiveness in the tannin. We don't want tannin for tannin's sake, we don't want new wood for its own sake. Balance is my only tool in winemaking. If you get the balance right, everything else gets right. A few years ago we had Stefano di Blasi here, the young winemaker before Antinori. He wanted to learn a little bit about Shiraz from us, we wanted to learn a little bit about Sangiovese from him. There's a good quote from him, "Get the structure right, and the aroma will follow on its own."

And so back to the initial question. The Grange's vinification style today is all about careful attention to detail. There is no secret trick to making a great Grange. It's all about refinement, it's always about refinement.

"Cool climate" wines are particularly trendy right now. But Grange is without a doubt a "Warm Climate" wines. Aren't you worried that he'll go out of style one day?

I don't think it will ever go out of fashion. It's much more big, long-lasting cycles that we're talking about. You can see that well with another wine of ours, St Henri, which has been more and less fashionable over the decades. But it's important to understand that Penfolds' top wines are not just Grange, and each has its own style. Grange was there first, but then St Henri came along in the 1950s, Bin 28 in 1959, Bin 389 in 1960, Bin 128 in 1962, Bin 707 in 1964, Koonunga Hill in 1976, so we started with our flagship and then let the others follow. It was a top down approach. You know, a lot of wineries make their wines and then over time they put a flagship on top. And quite often for that one they then take the heart out of the previous wines. We never did that because Grange came first.

Do you know how many prime ministers Australia has had since World War 2?

I'd have to count...

...there's been 16. But there's only been four Penfolds Chief Winemakers since 1948. Obviously this job requires a special dedication....

....and addiction! (laughs). Some people say, "What are the most important qualities for a winemaker? Hardiness and perseverance!". OK, tastefulness also comes into it....

You see, tomorrow morning I have to get up at 4:00 a.m. and fly to New York. And once there, I have my first appointment at 8:00 am and then all day until midnight, there are two seminars coming up, a press lunch, a press dinner.... that's not winemaking, and yet it's also a job for the winemaker. But actual winemaking also takes place seven days a week, sometimes with 12 hour workdays, sometimes with 14 hour workdays. You can't say that's really fun. But on the other hand, there's our team of winemakers-and I'm still one of the younger ones, I'm only 28 vintages here-there's Steve Lienert: 38 vintages for Penfolds, Kim Schroeter 30 vintages, Andrew Baldwin 31 vintages, John Bird 56 vintages! That's a loyalty you can't buy, but it's typical of Penfolds.

When you took over the post of chief winemaker from John Duval in 2002, how afraid were you that you might not be able to fill the huge shoes left by your predecessor?

I had almost no fear at all. And I don't mean that in an arrogant way. It was this wonderful Penfolds winemaking team that made it easy for me. But of course I was surprised, I never thought John Duval might quit. Penfolds Chief Winemakers usually do the job for the rest of their lives, John was the first to go! Even Max Schubert still had an office here until his death in 1994.

They were born in Newcastle, England. Not really one of the wine capitals of the world....

Yes, the industrial north of England! My family emigrated to Australia in 1963, I was five and a half. The reason was this. My father was in the British Army after the Second World War and was stationed in Gibraltar. He found he liked living there in a warm climate, you could sleep on the beach at night and all that sort of thing. He came back home to the cold north of England and said, come on, let's move somewhere warmer. That was the only reason we went to Australia. Somewhere warmer! He didn't know a soul in Australia.

You started your professional career as a teacher first. What then made you switch to the wine world?

It was a process I always refer to as the "Grip of the Grape". It started with an interest in wine, became a hobby, then a passion for collecting, then a short course in winemaking while I was still a teacher, then a bit of winemaking on the side, then a university degree in oenology - and then I turned around and thought: oops, how did all this happen?

As well as being known as Penfolds Chief Winemaker, you're also a key ambassador for the winery, and you're frequently travelling around the world. How many days a year are you away from home?

It depends on the year, in some years there are particularly many fairs, for instance the Vinexpo. I spend half of my time on the road, but sometimes only a third. That's a lot, but I usually do it in big tours. No matter where I travel in the world, it's always a very long tour. Flying from London to New York is no big deal, seven and a half, eight hours. But I get up here at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow to catch the 6 a.m. flight to Melbourne, two-hour layover there, then it's on to a 13 1⁄2 hour flight to L.A., three-hour layover there, then against the time zones on to New York. I do this a lot. Once I had to go to New York for a six-minute speech!

Given all this intense travel, it's hard to believe you're also a real winemaker. When was the last time you came out of the cellar with hands stained from working on the barrels of red wine?

During the harvest, always! Sometimes I have dinner in the evening and have to try to get my fingers clean with lemon juice. That goes on until about May, when I'm mainly busy tasting. But when we do our classification tastings, sometimes I have even more red wine stains on my hands than when I'm busy vinifying. Our harvest usually goes from late January to late April, during which time the actual winemaking takes place. But especially with red wine, the winemaking doesn't stop there. Cuvetting, drawing off, bottling... In our barrique cellar with a surface area of more than two hectares, there is always something to do, around the clock, seven days a week.

Short question, short answer. Your greatest success?

Survival.

Your biggest defeat?

Uhhhh..., getting older.

Wagner or Mozart?

Mozart.

William Shakespeare or Samuel Beckett?

Shakespeare.

Football or cricket?

Uh-huh, probably football.

Riesling or Chardonnay?

(thinks long and hard...) From a purist perspective: Riesling. From an emotional perspective: Chardonnay. ...but no, I have to say: Riesling.

Burgundy or Bordeaux?

You know, I have more Bordeaux than Burgundy in my cellar, but that's for different reasons. Buying Bordeaux is pretty descriptive - what you pay for, you get. Burgundies are Russian roulette: when they're great, they're otherworldly, but they can also be pretty ordinary. But really, don't have an answer to that question.

Will you grant us a quick peek into your private wine cellar? What's in there?

Everything And it's always been like that. There are many French wines in my cellar, from everywhere. Not only Bordeaux, not only Burgundy, not only Rhone, but from everywhere. Also a lot of German Rieslings, not quite as many Austrian Rieslings, some Grüner Veltliners. Not many wines from America, but some. It's like my taste in music, I'm very eclectic.

If someone wanted to give you a single bottle for Christmas - which one would make you really happy?

An Imperial bottle of Le Pin! (laughs). Or a Burgundy from Domaine de Romanée-Conti, or one of the Montrachets. But actually I don't have a favorite wine, I don't even have a favorite champagne, and I'm a big champagne lover.

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