The winemaker behind one of Australia’s most exciting young wine labels is chemist-turned-(failed)-muso turned winemaker, Peter Logan.
The winemaker behind one of Australia’s most exciting young wine labels is chemist-turned-(failed)-muso turned winemaker, Peter Logan. These days, Peter is busy making and marketing wines for his Logan, Weemala and Apple Tree Flat labels, across a range of grape varieties including semillon, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, gewürztraminer, chardonnay, riesling, viognier, pinot noir, pinot meunier, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and (from 2012) tempranillo.
He is also actively involved in selling his wines both locally and overseas, and promoting Australian wines internationally, to countries as diverse as Japan, Finland, USA, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Vietnam, Canada, UK, Hong Kong, China, Italy, Korea and Malaysia.
Peter is also a wine judge and recently judged at the NSW Wine Awards and prestigious London International Wine Competition.
While loving the character of rich fruit in Australian wines, Peter also admires the style and balance of old world wines. His winemaking philosophy is a hybrid of the two styles – wines with Australian fresh fruit flavours and European structure and finesse. He achieves this using fruit from high altitude cold climate Orange (and the nearby milder Mudgee) where the sunshine hours allow rich flavour development while the mild days and cold nights allow grapes to retain natural acidity and complex characters.
Utilising mostly Australian modern winemaking techniques which traps the fresh fruit flavours. Peter does however borrow the odd technique from the old world – such as crushing pinot noir grapes with his feet and the oxidative handling of some parcels of chardonnay. Having won more than 100 Australian and International Wine Show awards, and with consistently strong critical acclaim, Peter’s philosophy looks to be a solid one.
