Pinot depth and Edge

Few wine media stories attract greater readership than reports of competitive tastings where little known, home-town heroes whip the pants off more expensive, highly fancied wines from across the water. Around 40 years ago, three competitions set the US wine industry a-whooping and a-hollering about the quality of its Pinot Noirs.

The first took place in Paris in 1979. It was organised by the food and wine guide Gault & Millau. The French publication ran a vast World Wine Olympics, in which a Pinot Noir from the Pacific Northwest state of Oregon earned a place among the event's top 10 wines.

A year later - in a modified version of the earlier tasting - the region did even better. This time, an Oregon Pinot Noir was deemed runner up to a celebrated French wine from 1959, then regarded as Burgundy's 'vintage of the century.' Finally - as if to prove all the hoopla was only right and proper - a similar tasting was held in New York in 1985. In an event featuring Pinot Noirs from Oregon and Burgundy, the judgements made were simply astounding. The five best wines were all Oregonian.

It's an old, old story, but in part it explains the inclusion of three Oregonian Pinots in the current portfolio of Derwent Valley winemaker, Peter Dredge.  Born and raised in South Australia, the Adelaide University graduate is the owner and alter-ego of Dr Edge Tasmania.

"Those three industry milestones were to encourage the establishment of dozens of new wine ventures in the Pacific Northwest," Dredge says.

Four decades later, he adds that Oregon remains a Mecca for winemakers with a passion for creating New World Pinot Noir. 

Dredge fell victim to the Pinot Noir bug during his six-year winemaking stint at northern Tasmania's Bay of Fires winery. It followed 12 years of employment at Petaluma Wines in the Adelaide Hills, a wine region also synonymous with Pinot Noir.

"When I first began working with Petaluma in the late 1990s, I had no interest in wine at all," Dredge admits.

"I was actually on a gap year before starting a degree in science. There was no family history in wine. I just went looking for a job and ended up doing some lab work at Petaluma. I liked it so much I stayed a couple of years before doing a winemaking degree and then spending another six years with the company."

Making Petaluma Riesling alongside industry luminary Brian Croser encouraged travel and work connections with Alsace and Germany. When given the chance of making Pinot Noir at the Petaluma-owned Argyle Winery in Oregon in 2005, the Riesling-tragic headed for Germany instead. He worked vintage with Villa Wolf and Dr. Loosen.

"It wasn't until I had a company ambassadorial role in North America that I finally went to Oregon and visited some winemakers that had done vintage with Petaluma back in the Adelaide Hills," Dredge explains.

"I realised then how beautiful the region was and began to develop an understanding of its wines."

Dredge's move to Tasmania in late 2009 brought him into much closer contact with Pinot Noir. As chief winemaker at Bay of Fires, the Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and fizz whiz was about to add another string to his bow.

Day-to-day work schedules placed Dredge at the centre of a network of a dozen or so Pinot Noir growers and clients around the State. Increased exposure to the variety's idiosyncratic behaviour in the vineyard brought greater confidence in the winery.

In February 2013, Dredge created history at the Sydney Royal Wine Show by winning three trophies with the 2011 Bay of Fires Pinot Noir. As well as being named Best Pinot Noir and Best Red Wine, the gold medal winner was awarded Best Wine of Show. It was the first time in the event's long history that a Pinot Noir had been awarded the show's most coveted prize.

[ In August of this year, Dredge received welcome news of his nomination for Gourmet Traveller Wine Winemaker of the Year 2020. He's in good company. The shortlist compiled by Australia's leading food, wine and travel publication includes Alex Head (Head Wines), Kevin Bell AM (Hurley Vineyard), Belinda Thomson (Crawford River), Trina Smith (Jacob's Creek), Fiona Donald (Seppeltsfield), Nick Farr (By Farr) and Luke Jolliffe (Stella Bella). An award announcement is to be made on October 1. ]

Dredge departed Bay of Fires in 2015. By then, it was clear to him that Pinot Noir should be the flagship variety with which to chart his future wine adventures. 

September downtime provided opportunity for a serious foray into the Pacific Northwest. Dredge's first port of call was an elite co-operative winemaking facility in the Willamette Valley. A brief stint at The Carlton Winemakers Studio was followed by vintage internship at Keeler Estate Vineyard from 2017 and 2019.

Dredge used his business connections and personal friendships to purchase Willamette Valley fruit and make Pinot Noir there for himself.

Back on home turf in Tasmania, investment in the Ellis family's 46-year-old Meadowbank Vineyard also provided Dredge with ready access to Derwent Valley Pinot Noir to supplement his rewarding in-house winemaking role at the Glenora property.

Four Pinot Noir wines are created each vintage for Dr Edge Tasmania. Some behind-the-scenes horse-trading sees Dredge swapping small parcels of Meadowbank fruit with his Tamar Valley mate Joe Holyman (Stoney Rise). Similar volumes of fruit are also sourced from the Hazards Vineyard near Bicheno on the East Coast. These allow Dredge to plumb Pinot's depths in different parts of Tasmania.

Virtually identical winemaking methods are employed in creating the wines. Three are marketed under North, South, and East labels. A fourth Dr Edge wine is a blended product, made using Pinot Noir from all three Tasmanian vineyard sources.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Dredge made Pinot Noirs in Oregon using a similar modus operandi. Those from 2018 are now on sale.

They comprise two single site Pinot Noirs made from sustainable or organic vineyards in the Chehalem Mountains and Eola-Amity Hills. A third wine – labelled Willamette Valley – resulted from Dredge's skilful blending of Pinot Noir from the same vineyard sources.

"The idea was to produce Oregon Pinot Noirs made identically to those I've made from Tasmanian vineyards," Dredge explains.

"The process has been a bit of a challenge, but a very rewarding one as well. The wines are really interesting."

They are indeed, though few Pinot-philes would be surprised to learn the Oregon wines are richer, denser and more muscular than their Tasmanian counterparts. Vineyards in the Pacific Northwest are a fair bit warmer than most of those on Australia's wine island.

"It's a helluva long way to go to realise Tasmania is a far better region for growing Pinot Noir," Dredge adds with a wry smile.

First published 11 September 2020: tasmaniantimes.com