If it is true that the place where the wine is made is as important as the man making the wine, most people will not remember the man making their favourite wine and this is a shame. There are no exceptional wines without exceptional winemakers. Take for example John Duval. He was Chief winemaker for Penfolds, making the most famous Australian wine "Penfolds Grange" from 1986 until 2002. After leaving Penfolds he consulted for different wineries across the globe and in addition decided to set up on his own in 2003 and launched 2 fantastic wines Plexus and Entity under John Duval Wines, his own brand. We met John at a wine tasting in London at the end of January and he was kind enough to take some time with us and share his inestimable experience.               Olivier Bourseau:John Duval, thank you very much for giving us a few minutes for this interview. You are a very famous name in the world of winemaking having done an incredible career in winemaking. I am sure you must have passion to be as successful as you have been. When did this passion for wine start? John Duval: I can remember when I was growing up with my family we always had wine at the table and my family were grape growers south of Adelaide a place called Morphett Vale. They were farmers as well and my grandfather on my mother’s side worked for a winery. So I studied Agriculture Science at university and met many people working at the Australian Wine Research Institute as well. I knew a little bit about wine and grape growing and was excited about wine as a possible career, so I did winemaking studies at Roseworthy College, and then started to work for Penfolds. Olivier Bourseau: You worked previously at Penfolds as Chief Winemaker (appointed in 1986) making some of the most exciting wines in this world with Penfolds Grange being the most famous Australian Shiraz. You decided to set up on your own in 2003 and are already making wines attracting great awards. What does it take to be a good winemaker in your opinion? John Duval: I think obviously winemaking is a blend of the art and craft, which means I think you have to have an understanding or a feeling for wine; but it also involves science as well, and I think it’s knowing when and how science can work for you is important. I think there are probably 3 or 4 factors all involved here but at the end of the day, there is no substitute for experience. Olivier Bourseau: Your 2 wines Entity and Plexus have got a majority of Shiraz in them. And you obviously know this grape very well from your work at Penfolds before. Why sticking to this grape and not doing something else when you launched on your own? John Duval: People know me from Penfolds, which is based in Barossa Valley. I have lived there for over 30 years. So I just wanted to keep my business focused. And the focus really was on Barossa Valley, red wine, Shiraz and Shiraz blends. Stick to what you know best! Olivier Bourseau: How would you say the Shiraz wines you make as a single grape and in blend compares to the Old world style found in France in the Rhône valley? John Duval: I would never forget doing a famous tasting in Guild Hall, London, in 1990 with Gerard Jaboulet. We tasted Penfolds Grange and Hermitage La Chapelle. It was a fabulous tasting and we received a standing ovation. I think it was the first public tasting for the Institute of Masters of Wine. At the end of the tasting Gerard and I turned to each other and shook each other’s hand and said there was no winner, just Shiraz and Syrah because the wines were totally different. They came from different soils, different climates, different winemaking techniques and the wines had a different expression of the variety; and that’s a great thing about wine! Olivier Bourseau: There are some crucial parts in the winemaking such as the picking time, the fermentation time and the maturation time. How do you decide on these and is it all experience and depending on the vintage? John Duval: I think it is depending on the vintage, but experience teaches you how to react to the different vintages. I also think that winemaking has changed a lot over the years. Years ago the winemaking job started when the grapes came to the winery; and now the winemaking starts in the vineyard. So we spend a lot of time in the vineyard watching for flavour ripeness, and even before that, just growing the grapes. We also look for the right development of the vine, the maturation of the tannins. Olivier Bourseau: Currently there is a big debate about Terroir or the place where the wine is made being as important or more important than the man making the wine. You have not only worked in Australia but also consulted for many wineries around the world. What is in your opinion the most important, the place where the wine is made or the winemaker? John Duval: It is a combination of both. I am involved in several joint ventures. With the winery Ventisquero I make Syrah in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. I also make Syrah as part of a joint venture with Long Shadows in Washington State, and of course I have my own project in the Barossa Valley. The 3 regions are completely different, and I don’t take a recipe from the Barossa Valley to Chile or to Washington. I like to have a more elegant expression of the variety, so the idea is obviously to let the site and the soils express themselves through the wine. But where the man comes in, is making the wine in an elegant fashion and not letting the alcohol get too high or the wine dominated too much by oak. The idea is to let the fruit express itself. Olivier Bourseau: Apart from your wines, which are the 2 or 3 wines or types of wines you really enjoy drinking and what do you think about the Old World wines? John Duval: I have pretty eclectic taste. Because I am involved in ventures in Chile and the States, I drink a lot of wines from those parts of the world, to keep up to date, but I also enjoy the wines of the Rhône. And because I make a Shiraz-Grenache-Mourvedre blend myself in the Barossa, it is nice to see the interpretation of those varieties in other part of the world, particularly France and Spain. Olivier Bourseau: Thank you very much John!