Powell: ‘I was a lamb to the slaughter’

Australian winemaker Dave Powell has spoken out about being ousted from his own winery, Torbreck, in 2013, describing himself as “a lamb to the slaughter”.

Dave Powell at private members’ club 67 Pall Mall

In an exclusive interview with the drinks business, which can be read in full here, Powell said: “Pete wanted to take over Torbreck from the get go and was giving me enough rope to hang myself with.

“My lawyer told me I was a lamb to the slaughter. I declared myself bankrupt and walked off into the sunset.

“Towards the end I was the executive winemaker and was travelling seven months of the year and paying people to do what I loved – winemaking. I was 20 kilos heavier and was working myself into an early grave.

“I lost everything but found it liberating. It didn’t scare me having to start from scratch. I went from having AU$100 million to nothing.

“It was vicious, and it’s interesting how that’s when you find out who your real friends are. I created a monster and had to keep it going. I would have never left of my own volition but it’s probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Powell was forced out of Torbreck, which he founded in 1994, three years ago by its tech billionaire owner Pete Kight, when his five-year contract came to an end.

He has strong opinions about the direction he feels Torbreck is going in since his departure. “Pete is making a real pig’s ear of it. Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW of The Wine Advocate recently wrote about my influence there fading fast.

“He wants to make the company bigger and has introduced an unnecessary layer of middle management. People will be able to judge for themselves by tasting the wines,” Powell told db.

Powell & Son’s top drop, the single vineyard Steinert Shiraz

Post Torbreck, Powell has gone into business with his 22-year-old son Callum with Powell & Son, a joint venture focusing on single vineyard old vine Barossa Shiraz.

“We want to be the DRC of the Barossa but with some affordable wines in there too as the only problem with DRC is that it’s so expensive you can’t drink the bloody stuff,” he said.

Powell & Son’s inaugural vintage – 2014 – yielded just 3,500 cases across the range. Last year 5,500 cases were made and they’ve bottled 7,500 cases this year.

The wines range from £25-500 in price, with top single vineyard Shiraz, Steinert, named after the Eden Valley old vine plot from which it hails, matching The Laird in price.

Powell is bullish about his pricing strategy and believes the £500 tag for Steinert is justified. “If you make a world-class wine it’s okay to charge a world-class price; I did it with Torbreck repeatedly. We only made 220 cases of the first vintage and have just 25 left so it’s selling.

“People seeking the finer things are more likely to buy it if it’s more expensive, but it’s got to be good. You can’t dress mutton up as lamb – you’ll be shot down in flames and so you should,” he said.

“It’s important to have an icon wine in your portfolio as it helps subsidise the other wines in the range. The biggest challenge is trying to sell Australian wines at that price.

“People still think of us as the cheap stuff you buy at Tesco, yet there’s no problem with selling California wines at that price,” he added.