If you consider the Tasmanian wine industry old enough to be going through a new wave à la Swartland or South Australia, Peter Dredge (a.k.a. Dr. Edge) would be largely responsible for shifting those tectonic plates. Peter is helping to show the world that, rather than just shipping high-acid juice to the mainland for bubbly blends, Tasmania can have its own reputable wine identity. He calls his wines “unashamedly soft handed,” which is an ethos he developed over the course of his time working with Brian Croser at Petaluma, Dr. Loosen in Germany, and Bay of Fires and Meadowbank in Tasmania.
We import six Dr. Edge wines, three of which fall into the “experimental” series including a skinsy Shönburger, a cheerful Pinot Meunier, and a bright Pinot Noir pet nat. The other three – Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Noir – are more traditional and can be thought of as Tasmanian benchmarks.
This episode is part 1 of two. Part 1 focuses more on Peter’s background, and part 2 dives a little deeper into his wines. In this episode, you’ll hear how Peter decided to take a leap of faith, moving from Adelaide to Tasmania for a job at Bay of Fires before ever having visited. You’ll hear how he started a tongue-in-cheek side project called “Brian Global International” which made wine in both Tasmania and Oregon. And you’ll hear how at the beginning of Dr. Edge, he was making wine out of a cooperative winery located within the Museum of Old and New Art, a museum centered on the themes of sex and death. His journey in winemaking is – as he puts it – like a Game of Thrones plot, hard to keep track of all the twists and turns. But one thing is for sure: it all began on one fateful day during Peter’s senior year of high school in 1995.
Hosted by Charlotte Alsaadi.
Special thanks to SNACKTIME for the music!