Vintner & Owner

Philip was studying Electrical Engineering at Monash university when his interest in wines developed. He attended multiple wine appreciation courses conducted by the late Colin Richardson, and when trying to seek out a particular wine, Colin suggested contacting the original “Victorian Wine Centre” in South Melbourne, owned and managed by Stan Majewski. Stan was a walking encyclopedia of the world’s best wines. It was through Stan that Philip was introduced to some of the great wines of the world, Bordeaux, Burgundies, Sauternes, German Rieslings and Portuguese Vintage-Ports.

The association with Stan also allowed Philip close exposure to the Central Victorian winery Virgin Hills, where during vintage he enjoyed the first-hand experience of crushing, barrel-racking assemblage and bottling.

It was fortunate that the head of the Electrical Engineering Department, the late Professor Doug Lampard, also happened to be a world-renowned authority on microbiology and wine analysis. Doug instilled in Philip the essential skills for the management of clean, healthy wine ferments thus allowing a controlled but minimalist approach in the transition of grape to wine.

Paternoster’s first commercial wine release was a 1989 Pinot Noir.