Geoff Hardy
Ian Leask
Richard Leask
Michael Wehrs
Shane Harris
Our People
Geoff Hardy
Owner and viticulturist
Geoff Hardy is a fifth generation descendant of South Australian and McLaren Vale wine pioneer, Thomas Hardy, who arrived in the state in 1850. Geoff joined his father, Thomas Walter Hardy, and uncle, Sir James Hardy, in the family business as a teenager. One of his first projects was planting, by his own suggestion, native trees he had propagated around Hardy’s McLaren Vale Winery. Geoff has contributed enormously to the development of
Ian Leask
Owner and viticulturist
Ian brought his viticultural expertise to McLaren Vale in 1976 after successfully running vineyards in the Hunter Valley for well known wineries such as Tyrell's and Rothbury Estate and later managing the Pokolbin Vineyards in the Lower Hunter Valley for highly regarded JY Tulloch & Sons (now part of Southcorp). After running Ryecroft in McLaren Vale for several years, he and Geoff jointly purchased what is now the 32 hectare Pertaringa vineyard in 1980. He also pursued his love of heavy machinery and pioneered a mechanical grape harvesting business. The McLaren Vale Picker continues to lead the way each vintage and brings in a significant portion of the McLaren Vale harvest each year.
Richard Leask
Director - Viticulture & Vineyard Manager
In 2006, Ian's son Richard Leask took on the responsibility of managing the Pertaringa vineyard. Ian has always maintained the vineyard using minimal spray and his son Richard will continue the tradition with biodynamic practices and principles. Richard has a real passion for Grenache and Petit Verdot, which means they will be wines to watch over the coming years.
Michael Wehrs
Business Development Manager
Michael joined the Pertaringa team in 2002. His passion for wine started after a visit to the Piedmont in 1989, chasing some of the highly awarded Barolos in the Gambero Rosso (Italy’s most respected wine guide). Many trips to Tuscany, Friaul and Trento (Italy) and the Alsace (France) followed. Before persuing his true passion, he worked 15 years as a Senior Sales and Marketer for one of the top fashion houses in Germany with worldwide distribution. After meeting his Australian wife in London and living in Germany for 14 years, the desire to change his field resulted in the family migrating to Adelaide in early 2002 - leaving beautiful Munich beer for excellent Australian wine. Michael is an integral part of the Pertaringa team and has developed distribution into the domestic and the international markets. In addition to the European talent of speaking several languages, he is also a keen foodie and at times he even lets the guitar sing. michael@pertaringa.com.au
Shane Harris
Winemaker
Shane, a chef by trade, uses the skills honed in the kitchen to exert a Gastronomic Intelligence in his winemaking philosophy at Pertaringa Wines. With 10 of years experience in the cellar Shane believes in earning his stripes, starting at ground zero as a cellarhand and spending many long nights studying the science of wine in the pursuit of his winemaking goals.
Shane has been involved in the Pertaringa winemaking since 2006 and has recently been appointed Senior Winemaker. The soils of McLaren Vale are amongst the oldest on the planet and when partnered with the architecture of the region hold a unique message. Shane relies on the vines to translate this message into something tangible and sees his role as “not losing the message between picking the grapes and the opening the bottle”.
