What are your backgrounds?Tom: I was brought up in St. Louis and started my wine career in Chicago, but have distant family with a winery in Germany. I stayed with them for a couple weeks and really thought, “wine’s awesome.” So I got into the business working in sales, then up through the ranks in merchandising, grocery stores, fine wine territories, got the wine bug doing tastings and events, and started looking at what else I could do.I researched wine schools around the world and chose the University of Adelaide where I completed a Master of Wine Business degree, and that’s where I met Pete. After university I worked a couple of harvests, but I’m more into the distribution and sales side of the business. At university, I started working with Jackson Family Wines, who owned Yangarra Estate Vineyard. I was based out of Australia for 11 years and then moved with them to Tokyo nine years ago, where I now live and work.Pete: I grew up all around Australia. Dad was military, and we saw plenty of the country. Dad was an Irishman who drank wine and Mum’s family is French, so wine was part of every meal.I completed an IT degree, then decided it wasn’t for me. While figuring out what came next, I worked in hospitality, always had a passion for wine, and eventually completed a Viticulture degree at UWA (University of Western Australia) and then an Oenology degree in Adelaide, where I met Tom.After university there’s a rite of passage for Australian winemakers that sees many graduates head overseas. With my European passport I went to Bordeaux, where I worked two seasons, followed by vintages in Chile and Argentina, and then a couple of seasons in Crimea, Ukraine, working for Jacques Lurton Wine Consultancy. The second season ran a bit short due to the impending Russian occupation and the company had us leave.Luckily, I was able to join a friend doing vintage in Abruzzo, Italy, before returning to Australia where I worked for Taltarni (Pyrenees, Victoria) and Clover Hill (Tasmania), making sparkling wine for six years before moving to Clare Valley as Head Winemaker at Kilikanoon.So how did TOPE come about?Tom: At university, we lived about two blocks away from each other. The 100 Osmond Riesling is named after the address of the house I lived in, a wine student house. That house became a bit of an institution, with lots of barbecues, wine nights, tastings and other activities.Pete came over one day and we started chatting and drinking Riesling in the backyard, saying, “one day we’ll make this.”After university we both went our own ways, following different careers and paths. When Pete came back to Australia in 2014–15, I was living in Melbourne and we continued discussing the project.In February 2020, while I was visiting Australia, we reached the point where we said, “let’s do this project next year.” In 2021 we formed a wine business, obtained an ABN (Australian Business Number), bought some fruit and got started. In 2022 we made our first Riesling and launched our first wines at the end of the year.How did you go about putting TOPE together, and why Clare Valley?Pete: Tom and I always enjoyed Riesling, and while I was at university I was working at Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills. One of their flagship wines was the Hanlin Hill Riesling from Clare Valley.Tom and I drank a lot of Riesling in the backyard and always talked about the purity of fruit, and how you could make wines that were complex but not challenging, with beautiful expression from great vineyards. That’s what we always wanted.When we agreed to do it, the timing was a happy coincidence. I’d been in Clare Valley for three years, found my groove, and could see a pathway to make it work. I had access to a cellar I could oversee and good friends who are viticulturists with access to quality fruit. Talk is one thing, but sourcing the right vineyards and having them available when you need them is critical.Tom: We had about five dollars in our bank account, so that also helped.The other thing I really love about Clare is the community. All of our wines come from single-vineyard sites, each owned and farmed by people who live on them, and we have good relationships with all of them.They have both an emotional and financial attachment to their vineyards. It’s their livelihood and often their children’s inheritance, and the vineyards are immaculately cared for. It’s really nice to see the community come together because wine is about people, and that’s critical to building our brand culture.Could you tell me more about Clare Valley and the opportunities you saw?Pete: I think Clare Valley is one of the most under-appreciated and diverse wine regions not just in Australia, but globally. There are not many places in the world where you can make both Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as everything in between.Clare is a raised plateau in the middle of central South Australia. By Australian standards, we have relatively high-elevation vineyards. The bottom of the valley sits at around 350 metres above sea level, though most people don’t realise it because the drive from Adelaide is a gradual climb.The region lies about an hour inland, in the first true rain shadow of South Australia. We receive uplifting ocean influences, yet enjoy warm days because we are slightly further north than many other South Australian wine regions. At the same time, we sit on the edge of the desert and receive cool night winds flowing down the valley.It’s this combination of mountain-derived soils, moderate rainfall, warm days, cold nights and significant diurnal temperature variation that allows fruit to retain natural acidity and develop a broad spectrum of flavours. This is ideal for Riesling, but also helps preserve the natural blue-fruit character of Grenache, giving richness and focus across the palate.I often compare Clare Valley to the Northern Rhône. In the Rhône, the river cools the valley. In Clare, we experience a similar effect from cold desert winds. It allows us to produce elegant and beautiful wines from this unique part of central South Australia.And the soils?We have everything and anything.Clare Valley consists of three mountain ranges running parallel to each other that have evolved over millions of years. Soil profiles change dramatically depending on the slope and location along the 30-kilometre valley.You’ll find limestone and sandstone soils famous for Riesling, while Mintaro is known for its slate, including the slate used historically in many Adelaide buildings. Slate is also the dominant soil in our Cabernet vineyard.It’s both a blessing and a curse because it allows you to create incredibly unique vineyard parcels.For example, our Rieslings come from two blocks planted to the same clone and located only five kilometres apart, yet they taste completely different. One is planted on hard limestone in Armagh, while the other sits on yellow clay on an opposing ridge. They are harvested on the same day and fermented in exactly the same way, yet show completely different acid profiles and phenolic structures. It is a true expression of terroir.What does the future hold?Pete: This is my long-term retirement plan.Tom: We have both made careers in wine and want to build TOPE the right way. We are self-funded and have built everything ourselves, growing the business steadily while learning along the way.This is our passion and it carries our names.We would like to explore different wine styles in the future. One project planned for next year is a Riesling fermented and matured in ceramic eggs, which should produce a highly textural and interesting wine. We are also looking at producing a Grenache from a much older vineyard.TOPE's Five VineyardsAll of TOPE’s wines are sourced from single-vineyard sites in Clare Valley, owned and farmed by growers with a deep personal connection to their land.#12863 TOPE 100 Osmond Riesling 2023 (Screw cap)Vineyard: Limestone VineyardLocation: ArmaghElevation / Vine Age: 380 metres / 36 yearsSoils: LimestoneFeatures: Single vineyard, dry grown. Slightly cooler, east-facing site. Lovely oyster shell minerality, with fruit purity and citrus notes.Varietal：Riesling / Alc.11.6％ / Residual Sugar 0.59g/L / RRP incl. tax ￥3,740Wine Name:Named for the house Tom lived in during university in Adelaide.#13306 TOPE Dual Citizen Riesling 2024 (Screw cap)Vineyard: Rosedale VineyardLocation: Hill RiverElevation / Vine Age: 390 metres / 25 yearsSoils: Sandy loam over yellow clayFeatures:Single vineyard, dry grown. Located on an eastern ridge facing west, with afternoon sun resulting in thicker skins and more phenolics. Rich, intense flavours with bright, sweet fruit acidity.Varietal：Riesling / Alc.10.4％ / Residual Sugar 1.88g/L / RRP incl. tax ￥3,960Wine Name:Tom and Pete are both dual citizens, and this is their second Riesling.#13449 TOPE P+R Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 (Screw cap)Vineyard: Ruddenklau VineyardLocation: Hill RiverElevation / Vine Age: 500–550 metres / 25 yearsSoils: Dark red soil over sub-surface slateFeatures: Single vineyard. An eastern ridge facing west, with granite mixed in the soil. Green aromas of tomato leaf and red capsicum, alongside dark fruit and dusty tannins.Varietal：Cabernet Sauvignon / Alc.13.8％ / RRP incl. tax ￥4,400Wine NameP+R stands for Pete's and Tom's drinking nicknames during their university years.#13151 TOPE Afternoon Roll GrenacheVineyard: Parish VineyardLocation: WatervaleElevation / Vine Age: 390 metres / 6 yearsSoils: Red loam over limestoneFeaturesYoung, single-vineyard, dry-grown fruit from the central ridgeline in Watervale. Very acidic soils with terra rossa over slate. Aromatic and layered, with a lovely lift of blue fruits.Wine NameNamed after memories of hosting bowls sessions in front of 100 Osmond while drinking Grenache.#13152 Haus of Warr MataroVineyard: Ashton VineyardLocation: SevenhillElevation / Vine Age: 470 metres / 105 yearsSoils: Red loam over clayFeaturesSingle vineyard, dry grown. Very low yielding. Rich and intense, with lovely spice. An elegant and unapologetic Mataro.Wine NameTom's surname means "House of War" in German. Pete's surname is Warr.