2003 Pepper Tree Zinfandel with Pepper Tree President/CEO
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:02 pm
Hello All,
This afternoon, over a glass of 2003 Pepper Tree Zinfandel, I had the pleasure to spend 15 minutes face-to-face with Pepper Tree Wines President & CEO, John G. Martini. We discussed Pepper Tree Wines, his aims and business experience and Zinfandel, usually not a favourite topic of mine. Before I write my tasting note, some aspects of our conversation that I found interesting were:
Pepper Tree sales from cellar door and mailing list are strong, and this is an area of extreme importance to Pepper Tree Wines given the obvious profit advantages selling to this market given the “no middle man†situation and the so-called "wine glut". Furthermore, the average price of a case to this market is nearing $300 per case. Beats being a combatant in retail price wars!!!
Domestic sales are stable, which John said was probably not a bad thing.
Pepper Tree export sales make up 20% of their sales, but John wants to increase this to 40% over the next 2 years. This seemed very aggressive, especially as John has no interest in having Pepper Tree compete with the Yellow Tails, Lindemans and Jacob Creeks in the lower price brackets.
After discussing the “accounting†areas of his wine business, I asked the question “Are you an accountant or a wine lover?†I thought this quite pertinent given his ambition.
John has had immense business experience, at least through my eyes. He has started and successfully sold two completely non-wine related businesses, one of these being Joe Boxer. I could understand why he might seem doubling export sales not to be over-ambitious. He also has worked for Charles Krug, Domaine Chardon, and Gallo, which does not really mean a great deal as to whether or not he is a wine lover. However, it seemed obvious that he did not need to work in the wine game to earn his money and have the breathtaking views over Sydney Harbour. For balance, I should also mention that he worked for the now-defunct Reynolds Wine companyÂ… so hopefully he has learnt valuable lessons there!
What impressed me in answering my "wine lover" question was his discussion about the evolution of Zinfandel based wines especially in the United States (which of course included mention of RPjr.) and his general ideology of what constitutes great wine. This led to discussion about his passion for Pepper TreeÂ’s Reserve and Grand Reserve wines, where his greatest interest at Pepper Tree seems to lie. It even seems that his palate gets a chance to express opinion as to whether a particular barrel is up to standard for these labels. I am not sure how many CEOÂ’s do this.
Anyway, it seemed that Pepper Tree wines have a good “balanced†focus, which is probably evident in the awards Pepper Tree wines are achieving, including the 2001 JWT. Furthermore, the fact that John was willing to spend some time with a non-wine identity (well, not a well-recognised one anyway
), such as myself, probably speaks for itself. He had, and has, no idea I would be writing this little piece.
Back to the aforementioned Zinfandel conversation and the wine in the glass in front of us. John was pleased that this wine reminded him of what Californian Zinfandels were like before the “big is better†craze – medium bodied, cherries, spices, pepper and a joy to drink. Indeed, this wine is just that:
2003 Pepper Tree Zinfandel – Orange, NSW – 14.4%
Bright crimson, far from black and inky. The nose is wonderfully complex. Full of dry spices with hints of anise, earth, plum, leather, white pepper and other savoury nuances on a core of ripe red cherries. Medium/light bodied, it is broad and reasonably long, being driven by very fine acidity that makes your mouth water for another glass. It is not deep, nor is the palate as profound as the nose, but it is very easy to drink and a great accompaniment to many foods. Oak is well into the background, being aged in 1 and 2 year old barrels for 12 months. With an CD/RRP price of $20, it very good value and definitely a wine to try as an escape from the mainstream varieties as well as other Zinfandels. Drink over the next few years. 17.1/20, 90/100.
Kind regards,
Adair
This afternoon, over a glass of 2003 Pepper Tree Zinfandel, I had the pleasure to spend 15 minutes face-to-face with Pepper Tree Wines President & CEO, John G. Martini. We discussed Pepper Tree Wines, his aims and business experience and Zinfandel, usually not a favourite topic of mine. Before I write my tasting note, some aspects of our conversation that I found interesting were:
Pepper Tree sales from cellar door and mailing list are strong, and this is an area of extreme importance to Pepper Tree Wines given the obvious profit advantages selling to this market given the “no middle man†situation and the so-called "wine glut". Furthermore, the average price of a case to this market is nearing $300 per case. Beats being a combatant in retail price wars!!!
Domestic sales are stable, which John said was probably not a bad thing.
Pepper Tree export sales make up 20% of their sales, but John wants to increase this to 40% over the next 2 years. This seemed very aggressive, especially as John has no interest in having Pepper Tree compete with the Yellow Tails, Lindemans and Jacob Creeks in the lower price brackets.
After discussing the “accounting†areas of his wine business, I asked the question “Are you an accountant or a wine lover?†I thought this quite pertinent given his ambition.
John has had immense business experience, at least through my eyes. He has started and successfully sold two completely non-wine related businesses, one of these being Joe Boxer. I could understand why he might seem doubling export sales not to be over-ambitious. He also has worked for Charles Krug, Domaine Chardon, and Gallo, which does not really mean a great deal as to whether or not he is a wine lover. However, it seemed obvious that he did not need to work in the wine game to earn his money and have the breathtaking views over Sydney Harbour. For balance, I should also mention that he worked for the now-defunct Reynolds Wine companyÂ… so hopefully he has learnt valuable lessons there!
What impressed me in answering my "wine lover" question was his discussion about the evolution of Zinfandel based wines especially in the United States (which of course included mention of RPjr.) and his general ideology of what constitutes great wine. This led to discussion about his passion for Pepper TreeÂ’s Reserve and Grand Reserve wines, where his greatest interest at Pepper Tree seems to lie. It even seems that his palate gets a chance to express opinion as to whether a particular barrel is up to standard for these labels. I am not sure how many CEOÂ’s do this.
Anyway, it seemed that Pepper Tree wines have a good “balanced†focus, which is probably evident in the awards Pepper Tree wines are achieving, including the 2001 JWT. Furthermore, the fact that John was willing to spend some time with a non-wine identity (well, not a well-recognised one anyway
), such as myself, probably speaks for itself. He had, and has, no idea I would be writing this little piece.
Back to the aforementioned Zinfandel conversation and the wine in the glass in front of us. John was pleased that this wine reminded him of what Californian Zinfandels were like before the “big is better†craze – medium bodied, cherries, spices, pepper and a joy to drink. Indeed, this wine is just that:
2003 Pepper Tree Zinfandel – Orange, NSW – 14.4%
Bright crimson, far from black and inky. The nose is wonderfully complex. Full of dry spices with hints of anise, earth, plum, leather, white pepper and other savoury nuances on a core of ripe red cherries. Medium/light bodied, it is broad and reasonably long, being driven by very fine acidity that makes your mouth water for another glass. It is not deep, nor is the palate as profound as the nose, but it is very easy to drink and a great accompaniment to many foods. Oak is well into the background, being aged in 1 and 2 year old barrels for 12 months. With an CD/RRP price of $20, it very good value and definitely a wine to try as an escape from the mainstream varieties as well as other Zinfandels. Drink over the next few years. 17.1/20, 90/100.
Kind regards,
Adair