Wine Maker Snapshot

Hunter Smith – Frankland Estate

Hunter Smith has a Bachelor of Business (Agricultural Management) degree from Marcus Oldham College in Victoria and became a full-time member of the Frankland Estate team in 1999. He is involved in every aspect of the winery operations including finance and marketing and is also responsible for managing the family's wool growing interests

In your opinion, what's your best vintage vintage to date?

Best, that's a hard one. I always like the subtle differences you see in your own wines from year to year a great case in point is comparing the 2008 and the 2009 vintage red wine, the latter just hitting the market, of which we think is a great vintage for Frankland Estate.

What's the most rewarding thing about making wine ?

its very cliché but the intrigue of turning grapes grown in individual soil types into individual wines never fails to reward.

What has been your biggest winery/vintage disaster ?

in the early days we had a baker from Bremer Bay (small coastal town on the south coast) help out over vintage, while plunging he went into a open pot of shiraz….. the wine was never the same. Nor was he!

What would you be if you weren't a winemaker ?

- I guess I would farm something, I find the notion of planting, and growing and harvesting pretty rewarding.

What's your favourite white wine ?

riesling! flavour spectrums through to value for money the variety really kicks butt!

What's your favourite red wine ?

this is a harder question to answer, I have a soft spot for northern Rhone so would have to be shiraz.

What's your favourite food ?

fresh whiting straight out of the southern ocean.

What's your favourite food and wine match ?

i love both food and wine and don't get too tied down with "the perfect match" if the wines good I find the food usually matches!

What has been your best restaurant experience ?

one of the joys of the wine industry is having to eat at some of the great restaurants of the world, to list the best is hard!

Where will you be in ten years from now ?

hope still making (and drinking) bloody good wines!