Botrytis Semillon Barossa Valley 2023 – Peter Lehmann Masters (375ml)

To produce the Botrytis Semillon Barossa Valley Peter Lehmann Masters, the hand-picked fruit was gently basket pressed. The juice was then clarified and cold fermented in stainless steel tanks. Due to the high concentration of sugar in the grapes, the fermentation was stopped at approximately seven baume and 11% alcohol.

Peter Lehmann works with over 140 growers across the length and breadth of the Barossa Valley region, with access to over 750 individual vineyard sites. The fruit for this wine was sourced exclusively from the Estate Semillon vineyard on the banks of the North Para River, a two-hectare vineyard specifically established for the production of high quality botrytised fruit. The soils are deep alluvial loam and the parcels are typically the last fruit to be picked for vintage. 

Peter Lehmann started his own winery in 1979, partly as a means of helping with the glut of grapes then afflicting the Barossa. “I’ll take your grapes and turn them into wine,” he told the desperate growers, many of them conservative farmers of Silesian descent who regarded their old vines as part of their patrimony. “But I’ll only be able to pay you when I sell the wine.” They gratefully accepted. Without this deal, it is widely thought that the Barossa would have lost a large swathe of its old vines. The crisis passed, in large part thanks to Peter’s energy and vision, and the Lehmann winery became one of the Barossa’s – and Australia’s – outstanding wineries.