Bald Hills Winemaker since 2011, Pete Bartle has established himself as one of Central Otago’s most successful and respected winemakers with his no nonsense, passionate approach to winemaking. This approach has lead his wines to great success in competitions and tastings. Pete loves vineyards and really enjoys working alongside the vineyard team getting to know the site from the ground up. He believes most of the work is done before the fruit arrives at the winery and it is his job to coerce the best out of the grapes the vineyard has produced and to make wines with poise, texture and balance. Pete has been in the wine industry for over 22 years. After graduating in 1994 with honours from the Eastern Institute of Technology he worked for Villa Maria Estate, during which time he completed a harvest for Joseph Phelps Vineyards in Napa, California. Pete was then appointed assistant winemaker at Forrest Estate in Marlborough for a year before being lured down to Central Otago by the promise of working with Pinot Noir. In January 2001 Pete arrived in Central Otago to take on the winemaking role at Olssens. The opportunity to work with multiple vineyards drew him to move to Per