Peter Lehmann is a true champion of the Barossa, having been the man who recognised the severe grape surplus of the late 1970s could threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of families in the region.
To combat the problem Peter created a wine, ‘The Futures’ which not only embodied the region, but also Peter’s commitment to the Barossa, with simply a handshake and a promise to pay the growers once he had sold the wine. Peter was true to his promise and from there the people of the Barossa pulled together to create great wine and preserve the future of the Barossa.
Peter Lehmann is still a name that is synonymous with high quality wines that are complex and yet still approachable, wines that are generous, bold and full of character. That level of quality and the provenance of Peter’s wines has once again been recognised by wine judges, with four big wins at this year’s Barossa Wine Show.
The Barossa Wine Show started in 1977 and is widely recognised as the showpiece of the Barossa’s very best wines in any given year. Hundreds of wines are entered over 25 different classes, with the scoring of wines based on the 100-point-system that rewards the wine, the nose and the palate.
This year Peter Lehmann’s Barossa legacy and provenance has again been recognised, with big wins for Wigan Riesling, The Barossan Grenache and the newest wine on the block The Eternal Optimist.
The Wigan Riesling won the White Wine of Provenance award, which rewards an ability to age and outstanding consistency across a 10-year period. The Wigan’s 2007, 2011 and 2017 vintages were tasted and judged, and the White Wine of Provenance award showcases the consistency and skills of Peter Lehmann’s growers and winemakers to produce great wines.
The Barossan Grenache 2022 was awarded the Vinpac International & Prowine Trophy for the Best Grenache in Show. This is a wonderful win for Peter Lehmann with the 2022 The Barossan Grenache beating out the gold medal winners of Class 17 and acknowledged as the best of the best.
The growing and winemaking skills of the Peter Lehmann team continue to develop and produce incredible wines, and this is demonstrated with the new wine, The Eternal Optimist winning the Rod Schubert Trophy for the Best 2023 Shiraz. From all the gold medal winning wines in Class 10 the 2023 The Eternal Optimist was crowned simply the best in this class.
With the winery taking home so many big wins, it was no surprise to see Chief Winemaker, Nigel Westblade, take the honours with Peter Lehmann awarded the CCL Label Trophy for the Best Large Sized Winery for 2024.
To be eligible for this category Peter Lehmann needed to have the highest average score across all exhibitors and all wines entered to and had four or more judged entries where at least one gold medal had been won.
The great news for wine lovers is the classification of a large producer is 801+ tonnes of grapes must have been crushed for the 2024 vintage, so there is a lot of very premium wine on its way.
Peter Lehmann’s vision in the late 1970s to bring the Barossa together, sees him widely regarded as ‘the man who saved the Barossa’. That legacy continues today and with so many awards and trophies given to Peter Lehmann Wines, it is a name on a bottle that everyone can trust.
To find out more about Peter Lehmann’s range of high-quality, award-winning wines, please visit peterlehmannwines.com.