Peter Gago

Written By Campbell Mattinson

Peter Gago has been the face, voice and chief winemaking hand of Australia’s most famous winery, Penfolds, for nearly 25 years. He has therefore, in a real way, been the face, voice and chief winemaking hand of Australian wine, on the world stage. His influence and impact has been, and is, immense.

This image was taken in Melbourne at one of the annual Penfolds release tastings. It was taken quickly, with natural light, between glasses. It works in both (gently cinematic) colour and, arguably, even more so in black & white. It was taken on a Nikon D750 with a 105mm f2.8 macro lens, strangely enough. I particularly like the negative space in this image, and indeed what this looking forward and beyond aspect conveys about Gago the man.

Campbell Mattinson

This article was written by Campbell Mattinson, former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of both the highly respected The Winefront site (founded 2002) and Mattinson Photography.

Mattinson has been an independent wine critic and photo-journalist since 1987. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the prized Best Australian Sports Writing Award.

Mattinson, who is 100% independent, puts a score out of 100 on every wine that he reviews. But what he’d rather do, is tell you the wine’s story.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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