Saltram rediscovers its 1859 roots planted by Wiliam Salter & Son as one of Barossa Valley's original English settlers
William Salter was among the first land buyers in the Barossa Valley in 1844 and planted his first shiraz vines in 1859.
William Salter, who arrived in South Australia from Exeter, England, in 1839, was one of the first to buy land in the Barossa Valley in 1844. In 1859, Salter and son Edward, then 22, planted 10 acres of shiraz. A shed was built for making wine and a cellar was carved out of a hill. W Salter & Son’s first vintage in 1862 produced 1800 gallons.
William Salter died in 1871, leaving Edward to run the property. By 1873, the vintage was harvested from 12 hectares of shiraz and four hectares of palomino for sherry. That year, Edward employed Alfred Birks, who introduced Saltram wines to New Zealand before setting up the famous A.P. Birks winery in Clare. In 1882, Thomas Hardy started buying all Saltram's wine for 10 years and established them in London. By 1891, the vintage had grown to 182,000 litres, three quarters high-quality dry red, mainly shiraz, for export.
In 1898, Edward's sons Charles and Leslie became partners. Charles was manager until 1902 when he started his own business. Leslie took over and separated the winemaking from viticulture and focussed on red wine for export. Educated at Roseworthy College, he became a close friend of Ronald Martin of Stonyfell. Martin bought a third share of W Salter & Son in 1920, becoming chairman of directors.
When Leslie Salter resigned as managing director in 1937, the Saltram vineyard was managed by H.M. Martin of Stonyfell and, in 1941, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Martin's. Winemaking was at Saltram and Stonyfell used for maturation and bottling. Fred Ludlow took over winemaking at Saltram until 1953.
A 1949 Roseworthy graduate Brian Dolan was appointed manager at Saltram by Henry Martin. By 1954, Dolan had taken over winemaking and became general manager of H.M Martin and Son in 1959. From 1960, the legendary Peter Lehmann was winemaker at Saltram. He lightened traditional styles and made distinctive reds and fine ports. He encouraged planting cabernet sauvignon, harvested earlier for better pH control and new oak casks. In 1979, Lehman left Saltram to form what became Peter Lehmann Wines.
The late 1970s through to early 1990s were difficult for Saltram, with ownership and management changes. In 1992, Brian Dolan’s son Nigel was appointed chief winemaker and took Saltram back to its famous roots, focussing on Barossa-sourced grapes and styles. He was named South Australian red winemaker of the Year 1996 and Barossa winemaker of the year 2000. Shavaughn Wells followed as senior winemaker after years working with the wines and vineyards behind the scenes.
