A Conversation with Peter Taras

Photographer, former photo editor of Transworld Surf, Surfing and Surfer Magazine and serious wine guru sent me to Trader Joes for a bottle of Firesteed Pinot Noir and we got to talking.

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I’ve both admired Peter Taras’ work from afar and been in the surf magazine trenches of the aughts alongside him. He loves to downplay his talent and influence which are both immense. He is a visionary and knows how to execute. The wild ideas I threw out during our tenor together at Surfing Magazine were only because of an instilled confidence in knowing Pete would get it and he would absolute know how to take it to another level. As he did every time.

He has an incredibly deep understanding and wealth of knowledge about every generation of surfing (and wine for that matter) and I think his favorite surf movie is still “San Clemente Locals.” He is a sure-footed ripping goofyfoot and a world-class wine drinker, photo editor and despite his every attempt at downplaying it: one of the best surf photographers of all-time. Pour a glass of red and dig in. —Travis Ferré

INHERENT BUMMER: Now you've been a red wine guy for a long time. I just recently figured out how to articulate what I actually like and it’s not that natural wine craze that's going on. Your affordable wine reviews on IG (@petertaras) have me hooked.

PETER TARAS: You're an old soul, Travis. It's funny because there's a natural wine craze and people are drinking skin contact this and that. I went through that whole period too where I was just over the moon because it was new. You drink red wine for so long, then white wine, then something new comes on like rosé or orange wine, and you get hooked. But you kind of always come back to what you have experiences with.

How did your affordable wine reviews on IG get started?

I never even thought of it as a thing, and I've never gotten traction on social from it. I've always just done it for me. I started during Covid when I had just been laid off from Surfer [Magazine]… It was a crazy, weird, dark time. My wife had just gotten over cancer, I had just gotten laid off, we both didn't have jobs. I remember dancing in front of the videos at one point in the beginning and people thought I was hysterical. I just gave zero fucks. 

I started getting a lot of responses on IG. People started asking what I thought about different wines, or thanking me. I had people approaching me in restaurants going, "Hey, I love your reviews. You're that wine review guy." People didn't even know I did surf photos — they just viewed me as a wine guy. I had a local run of celebrity, which was funny.

Did you ever consider getting more deeply involved in the wine world?

Oh my gosh, the wine world is harder to break into than the surf industry. It's so much like a brotherhood — you got to be born into it or be a blood brother to crack that nut. Everybody knows everybody. Even when I got laid off at Surfer, I applied for probably 50 to 100 wine jobs and didn't even get a callback because it's all word of mouth. It's tough to go pro unless you go DIY style and do it on your own. My wife and family probably wouldn't approve of me becoming a professional alcoholic anyway.

Why is Trader Joe's your staple for wine?