When the big companies abandoned the grape growers of the Barossa, one man refused to let them fall. Peter Lehmann bought the harvest nobody wanted — and in doing so saved some of the oldest vines on earth.
Peter Lehmann (1930–2013) is a folk hero of Australian wine. Known affectionately as “the Baron of the Barossa,” he is remembered not only for his wines but for an act of loyalty that preserved the soul of Australia’s most famous wine region.[1]
The crisis of 1979
By the late 1970s the Barossa was in trouble. A grape glut had crushed prices, and the large wine companies were turning away from the region’s many small family growers — threatening to leave them ruined and their vineyards abandoned. Lehmann, then managing Saltram, watched his employer decide to buy only from its own estate.[1]
Buying the harvest nobody would
Rather than see the growers destroyed, in 1979 Lehmann founded his own winery for the express purpose of buying their fruit.[1] He committed to purchasing the harvest of roughly 140 family growers — promising to pay them once he had sold the wine, which is why he called that first vintage “The Futures.” In saving the growers, he also saved the priceless old, pre-phylloxera vines they tended — the very vines that make the Barossa legendary today.
He bet his own future on paying the growers theirs.
The Baron of the Barossa
Peter Lehmann Wines went on to great success, celebrated for its Shiraz and Semillon, and Lehmann became one of the most beloved figures in Australian wine — a big-hearted, straight-talking champion of the growers and their heritage.[1] He died in 2013, but the vines he saved, and the community he protected, remain his monument.
| Born / died | 1930 – 2013, Barossa Valley, South Australia[1] |
|---|---|
| His stand | Founded his winery in 1979 to buy growers’ grapes[1] |
| Whom he saved | ~140 family growers — and their old vines[1] |
| Known as | “The Baron of the Barossa”[1] |
Part of the Australian story
Lehmann’s rescue is why the Barossa still has some of the oldest vines in the world — read the wider history of Australian wine to see what he protected.
Related reading: the Australian wine industry · the Mornington Peninsula · the Wine History Timeline
Frequently asked questions
Why is Peter Lehmann famous?
Because in 1979 he founded his own Barossa winery specifically to buy the grapes of some 140 family growers the big companies had abandoned during a glut — saving their livelihoods and the region’s ancient old vines.
Why was he called the Baron of the Barossa?
It was an affectionate nickname reflecting his stature and his role as the great champion and protector of the Barossa Valley’s growers and winemaking heritage.
Sources
- “Peter Lehmann (winemaker)” (Australian wine producer, 1930–2013; managed Saltram; founded his own winery in 1979 to buy the harvest of ~140 Barossa growers abandoned during a grape glut; the first vintage “The Futures”; “the Baron of the Barossa”), Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lehmann_(winemaker)
Want to read more?
Books we drew on and recommend for going deeper on wine history.
The World Atlas of WineHugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
9000 Years of Wine: A World HistoryRod Phillips
Wine from Grape to GlassJens PrieweAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
