The Pike Family (L-R) Alister, Jamie, Andrew, Cathy and Stuart. Pikes Wines

Clare Valley stalwart Pikes Wines celebrated their 40^th anniversary in 2024. Established in 1984 by brothers Andrew and Neil Pike along with their parents Edgar and Merle, this is one of the great wine success stories of the Clare Valley.

Edgar Pike was part of the famous Pikes brewing dynasty, but with the business starting to falter in the 1960s, he was encouraged to look elsewhere for work, and horticulture and viticulture were the encouraged paths. Edgar, his wife Merle and the boys lived in Padthaway for a period of time running vineyards, then Langhorne Creek and Edgar was very much at home among the vines. This gave Andrew and Neil a taste of vineyard life and set the brothers on their vinous path, Andrew into viticulture and Neil into winemaking. Both lads studied at the famed Roseworthy Agricultural College.

Andrew was Wynns vineyard manager in Coonawarra and he then helped established Penfolds Clare Estate in the late 1970s and this is when his affinity with the region materialised. Also cementing his move to Clare was that his future wife Cathy had been transferred to Clare with her job, so it was logical that he should follow. Likewise, Neil was making wine in Clare, for the Mitchells, who had established their own label a few years earlier. Indeed, the first vintages of Pikes were made at the Mitchell winery.

In 1984, a 27ha site came up for sale opposite Penfolds Clare Estate in Polish Hill River and Andrew, Cathy and Neil, along with Edgar and Merle providing security, made the decision to purchase it, and thus Pikes Wines was born.

Neil threw himself headlong into establishing Pikes, while Andrew remained at Penfolds and later the Southcorp behemoth, heading up the 6,000ha viticulture side of the business. Andrew left this corporate role in 1998 to focus on the family venture.

Neil retired in 2020, with Andrew, Cathy and their sons buying his share. These days, it’s left to the sons to run the wine and brewery business. In discussion with one of them, Managing Director Jamie Pike, I posed some questions, reflecting on the family’s 40 years in the wine business.

In an industry that ebbs and flows, one thing that has remained constant is how they make their Pikes Traditionale Riesling. This wine is, year in, year out one of the great wine bargains. This is Clare riesling in all its glory, pure, unadulterated and lip-smackingly crisp and crunchy on release.

It’s still vinified the same way as it was 40 years ago, sourced predominantly from high-altitude east-west orientated vineyards. The grapes are machine harvested in the cool of the night, with the free-run juice being separated and fermented with a neutral, white wine yeast. As it was, and is, this is a fabulous expression of riesling.

Their top of the range riesling, The Merle, named after the matriarch, is the pick of the vineyards and is also made the same way, and only produced in the best years.

According to Jamie:

“The philosophy for our riesling, and indeed right across our offering, is that 100% of our focus is on quality, without compromise, and the wines should always speak of their place.”

There has been change though in the way they approach their reds. In the late 1990s they strayed into the ‘Parker style’ of wines: higher alcohols, more oak, more of everything. They saw the error of their ways and in the late noughties pared back the new oak and alcohols and went back to more structured and balanced wines that were reflective of their site.

What has also evolved at Pikes is their varietal mix. Sure, riesling, shiraz and cabernet have long played a role, but Pikes were also one of the early pioneers of sangiovese in the country, planting this variety of Tuscan origin over 30 years ago. Now, sangiovese is the most planted red variety across Pikes 100+ hectares of vineyards providing fruit for both rose and dry red wines.

Pikes then planted pinot grigio shortly after sangiovese: again, one of the first movers with this variety and now it delivers similar volumes of grapes to the winery as sangiovese.

There’s been a few misfires as well: savagnin, viognier and merlot were trialled, but the resulting wines determined that they were not to continue.

And what of the future? Jamie opines that:

“It’s hard to predict. The wine industry is experiencing tough times. But I’m optimistic, we have a strong brand and absolute commitment to quality. In tough times customers turn to trusted brands and value for money, and people know that is exactly what the distinctive Pike Fish on the label represents. It’s our family seal of quality and we’ll never waver from that path.”

Raise a glass of riesling and here’s to another 40 years and beyond of Pikes.