Wine Maker Focus - Peter Lehmann Wines
Establishing Peter Lehmann Wines
Peter Lehmann is one of Australia’s most respected winemakers. Wine lovers around the globe delight in the winemakers innovative wines, produced in a single site located near Tanuda, in the heart of the Barossa Valley, South Australia.
In 1979, in the face of serious overproduction of grapes and the possibility of growers financial ruin, Peter Lehmann found investment partners, established a consortium, (initially the Masterson Barossa Vignerons) and built the Peter Lehmann Wines winery, formally named in 1982.
Peter Lehmann was only too aware of the challenges facing a young winery so its growth was well planned, slow and steady. Initially the winery was built to process fruit purchased from local growers. The Peter Lehmann Wines operation moved on from the bulk wine market to become a producer of premium bottled wines. The first vintage of Peter Lehmann wines was processed in 1980 and the wines have now gone on to have an admired and well deserved international reputation.
Since 2003, Peter Lehmann Wines have been a member of the Hess Group, owner of three other great wineries: The Hess Collection in the Napa Valley, Glen Carlou in South Africa and Bodega Colome in Argentina.
The Peter Lehmann Growers
Peter Lehmann founded the winery to protect the livelihoods of the growers, and their Barossa vineyards so as a result firm friendships have been established. This loyalty to the local Barossa growers meant that Peter Lehmann Wines took the conscious decision not to invest heavily in its own vineyards. The Peter Lehmann winery does own 73ha of vineyard, including the Stonewell Vineyard but the fruit from these vineyards only account for 2% of the company’s total requirements.
The Peter Lehmann Vineyards
“Great Wines Are Made in Great Vineyards”
The majority of Peter Lehmann Wines are created from grapes purchased from 185 carefully selected independent Barossa growers. Many of the growers families have worked their vineyards for five or six generations. These Barossa vignerons tend to about 900 individual vineyards that cover the whole of the Barossa Valley.
The majority of the vineyards from which Peter Lehmann Wines source their fruit come from vines that are technically classified as mature, ranging from 20 to 100 years old.
The Peter Lehmann Range of Wines
Peter Lehmann Wines have earned many medals and accolades from wine judges in Australia as well as throughout the world with his range of fantastic wines.
Ambassador Range – including the Stonewell Shiraz and Mentor Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cellar Reserve – this range of wines are often only available at the Cellar Door and in limited quantities, often not commercially available. See Black Queen Sparkling Shiraz.
Barossa Range – a strikingly vibrant collection of individual wines, distinguished by the many faces of the Queen of Clubs on the labels.
Clancy’s – Peter Lehmann Clancy’s is an easy drinking, widely loved Australian red wine blend.
The Art of Wine Labels
Peter Lehmann was a fan of the American author Damon Runyon. In the uncertain times of the 1970s and 80s Peter Lehmann was inspired by one of Runyon’s characters the gambler, ‘Sky Masterson’. Peter Lehmann said “If anything’s a gamble, it’s this so we’ll call the company… ‘Masterson Barossa Vignerons.’”
According to the renowned Barossan artist, Rod Schubert, the Queen of Clubs is the “gambler’s card” and has been proudly retained as the Peter Lehmann Wines’ corporate logo. In 1996 the Queen of Clubs took on an exciting personality for each of the wines, reflecting their individual style and character. Young Australian artists were commissioned by Peter Lehmann Wines to re-interpret the Queen of Clubs in the context of the variety of tastes, flavours, bouquets and defining charcters of each of the Peter Lehmann Wines now featured on the wines labels.
Awards for Peter Lehmann Wines
International Winemaker of the Year 2003 & 2006
Australian Producer of the Year 2003 & 2006
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