Orlando has a new chief winemaker

Orlando Wines has gone for youth and musical ability in choosing its new chief winemaker.

Tim Pelquest-Hunt was today named as the holder of this big role - and has previously been hiding his light under a bushel.

"To be entrusted with custodianship of an iconic and historic wine brand in Orlando is extremely humbling," he said in a press release that I managed to track down.

"Orlando was formulative in developing my love of wine, none more so than Steingarten Riesling, which was the first case I ever purchased.

"The rich tapestry of Orlando’s winemaking history reshaped the face of the Australian wine industry by assisting in defining regional classics and this concept of “sense of place” in a glass."

Pelquest-Hunt has been very low profile up to now.

He started working in a Dan Murphy's store while completing his Bachelor of Music and Arts at the University of New South Wales.

He later enrolled in the Viticulture and Oenology graduate program at Lincoln University in New Zealand and became a “travelling winemaker”.

He has worked in New Zealand, the Hunter Valley, Tasmania and Rheinhessen in Germany before specialising in sparkling vinification in the UK (at Nyetimber) and the US (with Mumm). 

He is approaching 10 years in various roles at Pernod-Ricard, Orlando's parent company.