PIERRO: GENESIS OF A PREMIER AUSTRALIAN WINERY

Pierro came about through a touch of serendipity and the passion and beliefs of Dr. Michael Peterkin.
 
The winery and the winemaker are inextricably linked to the relatively short but remarkable history of Margaret River wine and today form an integral part of that narrative.
 
A medical practitioner as well as a fully qualified viticulturalist and winemaker, Mike juggled the two demanding vocations for 25 years. Only recently did he finish up with his duties as a country doctor to devote his energies full time to perfecting his wines.
 
Yet in some ways it was the admixture of the two callings that lead to the birth of Pierro, which today is among the most acclaimed small wineries in Australia.
 
After graduation in medicine from the University of Western Australia in 1973 at the age of 24, Mike Peterkin decided that his love of wine and winemaking could not be ignored any longer. As if a degree in medicine wasn't enough, he attended South Australia's respected Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1976 and 1977, and gained a Diploma in Oenology.
 
From 1978 to 1981, he made wines at Enterprise Wines at Clare, Cullen Wines at Margaret River and Alkoomi in Western Australia's Great Southern region. But he had not forsaken medicine, and in 1982, completed a postgraduate degree in obstetrics, gynaecology and postgraduate work in anaesthetics.
 
Through it all, he harboured a deep desire to one day produce fine wines from his own vineyard, be that where it may. Margaret River was of particular interest due to some very promising wines starting to emerge from this little-known south-west corner of his home state. 
 
Based on a 1965 report by distinguished Western Australian agronomist Dr. John Gladstones, a small coterie of like-minded medicos had commenced planting vines in the vicinity of Margaret River during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
 
Dr. Gladstones' seminal study had showed that the area was close in climatic conditions to St. Emilion or Pomerol in Bordeaux, and featured areas of exceptional grapevine soil. Sunshine hours were slightly higher than Bordeaux, and there was the added advantage that it was an area free of the risk of frost, and rain at vintage, conditions that so often spoiled things in Bordeaux.
 
 These excellent conditions, which appeared to be the norm in Margaret River, are what defined a great vintage year in Bordeaux. Everything pointed toward the Western Australian locale as being well suited to the production of first-rate wines.
 
In the early-1970s Mike was particularly impressed by one of these wines, a riesling from Dr. Tom Cullity's Vasse Felix vineyard, which is situated only a few kilometres from where Pierro is today. At the time, there were a mere three commercial vineyards in the fledgling viticultural region.
 
Mike made his foray into winemaking in Margaret River in 1979 working for the late Dr. Kevin and Diana Cullen, patriarch and matriarch of Cullen Wines. He was to be the region's first professionally qualified winemaker. It was while he was working at the winery that he met Shelley Cullen, daughter of Kevin and Diana, to whom he is married today.
 
By the late 1970s, he was also working as a locum doctor in Perth, but was more intent than ever on establishing his own winery. He had been seeking the right property on which to do so for several years, but was having a hard time finding a suitable site.
 
When a Busselton real estate agent contacted him in Perth and said there was a farm for sale, he made the trip south to check it out. He wasn't impressed, yet again.
 
By way of passing, the agent said he also had a property on his books at nearby Willyabrup, but didn't think it would be right for his client's vineyard needs, being distinctly scrubby, rocky and sloping. Mike insisted on seeing it. He instantly liked it.
 
The land had several favourable viticultural attributes: sunny north facing slopes, the Willyabrup Brook flowing through, rocky but suitable soil, the Indian Ocean nearby, a pristine location, and Dr Gladstones' recommendation that Willyabrup was potentially the best location in Margaret River. It was also a lovely, picturesque location.
 
Mike took a couple of extra jobs to raise the money for a deposit. Three months later he returned somewhat exhausted with the down payment and a business plan. The land became his in 1979 and he was on his way.
 
In hindsight, he says there were a couple of less pragmatic reasons for his interest in the Willyabrup plot. "I also bought the property because it is a very romantic place and was close to my romantic interest - Shelley," he recalls.
 
He persuaded his former mentor from Clare, eminent viticulturalist and winemaker Tim Knappstein, to come to WA from South Australia to appraise his new acquisition. Upon surveying the land Knappstein simply said, "Mike, you will never make it here."
 
But this didn't sway the single-minded new landholder.  He set about clearing boulders, removing undergrowth and trees and making the ground ready for planting. The preparation for vines took two years in all. The doubters would be proved mightily wrong.