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Winemaker of the year 2008 finalist: Andrew Wigan

It’s hard to think of Andrew Wigan as anything other than Barossa through and through. But in fact, Wigan’s wine career started in Great Western, close to his home town of Ararat in western Victoria. After finishing a science degree, he began working at Seppelt during the holidays and came to the attention of renowned winemaker Colin Preece, a friend of the Wigan family. “Young Wigan, you should go to Roseworthy!” Preece said, which is exactly what Wigan did.

After a stint under Jim Irvine at Krondorf, first as a cellar rat and then in the laboratory, “Wigs” moved to Saltram in 1976, where he first worked with Peter Lehmann. These were turbulent years in the industry and, after Saltram’s owner, Seagram, decided to dump many Barossa growers, Lehmann left in 1980 and Wigan, against local advice that Lehmann “was an unknown” went with him. Twenty-eight years on, he’s still there.

In an industry where winemakers are constantly on the move, the team at the Peter Lehmann winery has been remarkably stable. Wigan and Lehmann both credit each other for this. “Andrew’s a great team builder,” Lehmann says. “You don’t have specialist winemakers here; everyone’s part of the process.” This runs counter to most large wineries, where you’ll find a senior white winemaker and team, their red counterparts and so on.

“Peter cares about people,” Wigan says, and in fact, caring for the growers has been the foundation of the company. Both men are quick to credit the team – Peter Scholz, Leonie Lange, Linton Pritchard, Mick Anderson, Ian Hongell and Kerry Morrison – all of whom have been with Lehmann for years.

Like many Barossa winemakers, Wigan’s early successes were with shiraz. He rapidly established Stonewell as one of the Barossa’s top reds, and his standard Barossa shiraz is always a reliable drop, showing the generous flavour and soft balance typical of the region. More recently, however, it has been the whites that have shone, the 1993 Eden Valley Reserve Riesling winning more trophies than any other wine in its era. Even more significantly, Wigan has revolutionised the Barossa style of semillon. For years, Barossa semillon was picked very ripe and matured in new oak. The result was a broad, full-bodied wine that rapidly became flat and dull in bottle. Wigan, a self-professed admirer of the low-alcohol Hunter style, started picking semillon earlier from the 1999 vintage, with spectacular results. The standard semillon – a beautifully fresh, lively expression of the variety – is now one of the biggest sellers, and the reserve is winning its share of trophies against the top aged Hunter whites. “When I die, they’ll find semillon in my veins, not red!” exclaims Margaret Lehmann. Fittingly, the reserve carries her name.

Wigan’s contribution to the evolution of Barossa styles has been outstanding. The quality of wines has seen the Peter Lehmann team twice awarded the International Winemaker of the Year Trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, in 2003 and 2006, and White Winemaker of the Year Trophy at the International Wine Challenge in 2006.

When asked what has given him greatest satisfaction, Wigan replies, “I take enormous pride in seeing where we are now compared with when we crushed the first berries in 1980. Life was a struggle for many years. I never dreamed we’d be selling wine outside Australia. Now we’re recognised around the world.”

“Andrew’s got such a delicate touch,” Lehamnn says. “He’s brought a strong, shining intelligence. He’s never blasé, never lost the passion. With 32 years experience, he’s honing [his skills] every year, stretching boundaries and tweaking styles.”

Did the lad from Great Western expect to stay this long? “I love the Great Western style – the old Seppelt wines, and I’m a great fan of Viv Thomson’s at Best’s. But when I got to the Barossa and saw the depth of wine styles made and the age of the vines, I couldn’t leave.” Many will be glad he didn’t.

WORDS NICK BULLEID PHOTOGRAPHY PETER LEHMANN

This article appeared in the June/July 2008 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.