{"id":23835,"date":"2023-08-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/2023\/08\/17\/inside-la-place-peter-maude-the-self-made-man\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T00:00:00","slug":"inside-la-place-peter-maude-the-self-made-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidelaplace.rcassocies.com\/en\/2023\/08\/17\/inside-la-place-peter-maude-the-self-made-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside La Place – Peter Maude, The self-made man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Maude<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Peter Maude Fine Wines<\/strong><\/p>\n

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You and Your company<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Gerda: <\/strong>Could you please introduce your personal background and why wine? <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Peter Maude<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span>I started my career at the Bank of New Zealand in 1957 as a junior in a little country town Hamilton. I enjoyed my life by playing tennis, cricket, golf and of course\u2026 rugby which is a religion in my country. There was an excellent wine and spirit merchant with an outstanding selection of expensive wines in Hamilton. I didn\u2019t know much about wines at that moment but got curious and in 1973 I read an article in Reader\u2019s Digest Magazine about French wines which made me even more enthusiastic. So, I decided to buy Ch\u00e2teau Margaux, Ch\u00e2teau Mouton Rothschild, and Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Brion 1970 bottles from this fantastic wine merchant. This was just the start – many bottles from Saint-Julien, Pauillac, Saint-Emilion and Burgundy followed. Lovely bottles I shared with my friends from the golf club. To increase my knowledge I purchased a book by Alexis Lichine \u201cthe guide to the Wines and vineyards of France\u201d. I moved back to Auckland for a promotion at the bank but the manager of the Hamilton wine shop said to me \u201cIf you find any great wines from France, let me know, and you can work on commission for us\u201d. I didn\u2019t earn a bad salary at the bank but I became really fascinated with wine in my spare time and more earning is always welcome. Supermarkets didn\u2019t have a lot of wine because it was hard to get a license those days.<\/p>\n

Thanks to all this I made the decision in 1981 to buy the wineshop in Hamilton. I was still working at the bank so it meant I drove to Hamilton on Friday evening to be back in Auckland on Sunday evening. I bought exceptional wines from collectors in New Zealand but also from Australia, like Ch\u00e2teau Haut-Brion 1971. Can you imagine this wine just for 20 NZ$ a bottle!\u00a0 It was an excellent start in the wine trade during which I met big and passionate wine drinkers.\u00a0In 1981, I made my first trip to Bordeaux where I was in contact with Baron Geoffroy Deluze. Later I was introduced to Roland Remoissenet in Beaune. I will never forget the magnum of Richebourg 1949 from him. It is one of the finest wines I have ever drunk. He had 69 magnums of which I could buy a few. Roland Remoissenet was a bohemian guy but a genius and thanks to him I learned a lot about Burgundy and about the need to seek the finest Domaines. In that same year 1981, I started the company Peter Maude Fine Wines in Auckland and left the bank in 1984 to give all my time to wine.<\/p>\n

Gerda: T<\/span>ell us also about your company? And for our audience to understand your answers to the following questions, could you please specify to which type of clients you sell?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Peter Maude<\/strong>: We sell mainly Fine Wines from France, some wines from New Zealand, Australia and other wines sold through La Place de Bordeaux.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our clients are private and some corporate-like hotels, and restaurants of good quality. Private customers in New Zealand are more drinking than speculating and fortunately, we are dealing with people we trust and know. With many of them, we are developing a long-time relationship. Nowadays there is a new breath of big spenders in our country, wealthy people who can afford top wines. We have a young team with two dynamic ladies: Jo Charvill and my daughter Katharine so the new generation of wine drinkers comes into the picture as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Your market development\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gerda: <\/strong><\/span>What are the main challenges you face in your market: Logistics, competition, regulations, consumption, and others? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Peter Maude<\/strong>: When I formed my company in 1981, there were still two factors though which made importing difficult: <\/span><\/p>\n