Rising Stars
Peter Drew Corkage, Guildford
I
t’s great to travel and gain experience in far-flung countries, but sometimes there’s just no place like home. After honing his hospitality skills in New Zealand and Australia, Peter Drew returned to the UK in 2021 and, keen to further his career near his hometown, took the role of manager at hybrid bar and shop Corkage. Owner Andy Dore says: “Our previous bar manager, Claire, was French and she’d been with us for about three years but she really missed her family during lockdown and decided to go home. We advertised locally for a replacement and Peter walked in.” Andy says that after lockdown he wasn’t sure what the future looked like for the business, so he wanted someone part-time to start off with. “It suited Peter as he would be the first to admit that he was feeling a bit burnt out by the time he got back to the UK,” says Andy. “It’s been a meeting of minds, really. He’s got a kind and gentle personality. He’s absolutely brilliant with the customers; he takes time with each and every one of them. His background means he’s very knowledgeable and he’s got a very, very good palate as well. He’s helping me with refreshing some of the stock and he’s introduced a couple of new suppliers. We enjoy working together and we’ve got a similar sense of humour, attitude and approach.” Peter first visited Corkage as a customer for a tasting event and, when he saw Andy was looking for a premises manager, he didn’t hesitate to apply. “It had always operated very much as a shop and tasting room, which sounded great,” Peter says. “I thought with such a gigantic product line there was plenty of scope to develop it into more of a bar. It was more familiar to me to do something like that. Over the course of that time, I’ve gone from getting people through the doors and getting them interested, to going out and buying wine for the company.” There’s a large range of wine available by the glass at Corkage, including the wines on the Enomatic. “Our customer base and the people who continue to find us are very open to a voyage of discovery,” explains Peter. “We like to introduce them to more than Bordeaux and Burgundy. This month we had a tasting with summer wines, something a bit off the wall like Italian blends from Australia. We like to show that there’s certainly far
more to wine than just one continent; there’s lots more fun and stories to be had from it. We try and mix and match the traditional with the non-conventional. It’s all about just finding a little balance.”
P
eter has his WSET Level 3 and, although he enjoys studying, is not convinced that further wine qualifications are for him right now. “I’ve never ruled it out, but there needs to be a practical application,” he says. As Andy will attest, events and hospitality seem to come easily to Peter. But Peter himself admits that, while it’s the role he enjoys the most, it’s something he’s had to work hard at to accomplish. “One of the reasons I got into hospitality was because I was terrified of speaking to people,” he says. “I was terrible at public speaking, but I wanted to be able to do it and hospitality forced me to do it. I’ve come to love what I do so much, especially with wine. “Andy gives me the freedom to really expand and take a couple of risks now and again. I can only thank him for that because it’s allowed me to broaden my horizons in terms of wine and just become even more knowledgeable and better at my job.”
Peter wins a bottle of Domaine Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé Tête de Cru Clos des Prouges 2020 If you’d like to nominate a Rising Star, email claire@winemerchantmag.com
THE WINE MERCHANT august 2023 10