Original Saltram winery with Mamre Brook on left in background

William Salter arrived in South Australia from Exeter, England aboard the Caroline in December 1839. When the Barossa surveys were opened for selection, he purchased a piece of land in the new district and in 1844 moved his family to the property in the heart of the Barossa Valley. The 80km journey from Adelaide by bullock wagon took four days. William Salter was a deeply religious man and he named his property ‘Mamre Brook’ after a verse in Genesis that describes the land of Abraham. With no previous building experience, he constructed a six-room homestead, Mamre Brook House, which became the spiritual home in his adopted land. To this day Mamre Brook House is occupied by the chief winemaker at the Saltram winery.

William Salter, founder of Saltram.

In 1859 Salter formed a partnership with his son Edward, then aged 22, founding the firm W Salter & Son and they began their vineyard operations with the clearing and planting of 10 acres of shiraz at the eastern end of the property. A shed was erected for making wine and a cellar was carved out of a nearby hill. Their first vintage in 1862 produced 8000 litres of a wine they called their 'No.1 Shiraz'.

In 1871, William Salter passed away leaving Edward to run the property. Edward planted more vines and by 1873, the vintage was harvested from 12 hectares of Shiraz and 4 hectares of Palomino grapes used for sherry. In the same year, Edward employed Alfred Birks who introduced Saltram wines to New Zealand before setting up the famous AP Birks winery in Clare.

In 1882, Salter made an arrangement with prominent wine merchant Thomas Hardy who undertook to buy all of Saltram’s wine then find a market for it. This arrangement was in place for 10 years and Hardy is credited with establishing Saltram wines in London.

Fred Ludlow (left) & Brian Dolan at the Centenary Celebrations at Saltram, 1959.

By 1891 the size of the vintage had grown to 182,000 litres, 3/4 of which was high quality dry red, mainly shiraz, for export markets. In 1898, Edward’s sons Charles and Leslie entered into a partnership with their father each holding a quarter share of the business. Charles was appointed manager, a position he held until 1902 when he left to start his own business.

Leslie succeeded his brother and separated the winemaking operations from the viticulture and focussed on red wine production for export. The quality was good and the Saltram wines received a number of awards abroad.

Leslie Salter had been educated at Roseworthy College and became a close friend of Ronald Martin of ‘Stonyfell’. Martin bought a third share of W Salter & Son in 1920 assuming the role of Chairman of Directors. When Leslie Salter resigned as Managing Director in 1937, Saltram vineyard was managed by H.M Martin of Stonyfell and in 1941 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Martin’s. The two operations worked in tandem with winemaking being performed at Saltram and Stonyfell being used for maturation and bottling.

In 1938, winemaking was put into the hands of Fred Ludlow who had been in the service of Saltram since 1917 - he retained this position until retirement in 1953. A young Brian Dolan graduated from Roseworthy college in 1949 and was appointed manager at Saltram by Henry Martin. By 1954 Brian had taken full winemaking control at Saltram in the position of Senior Winemaker and was eventually promoted to General Manager of H.M Martin and Son in 1959. Brian continued as General Manager and later as Production Director through until 1979, concluding a distinguished 30-year involvement with Saltram winemaking.

Peter Lehmann during his time at Saltram.

The legendary Peter Lehmann succeeded Dolan at Saltram in 1960. Lehmann lightened the traditional styles and made distinctive reds and fine ports. He encouraged the planting of cabernet sauvignon, harvested earlier for better pH control and introduced new oak casks.

In 1979 Lehman left Saltram to form what is today known as Peter Lehmann Wines. The late 70s through to the early 90s were difficult times at Saltram with ownership changes and management shuffling seeing the focus on wine styles continually shifting.

However things took a turn for the better in 1992, when Brian Dolan’s son, Nigel, who was born in Mamre Brook House, was appointed as chief winemaker – a position he retains today. Nigel’s first vintage with Saltram was actually as a cellar-hand in 1979 but now he has returned to carry the mantle of head winemaker.

Left to Right: Prince (labrador), Michael, Brian and Nigel Dolan in 1958 on the front lawn of Mamre Brook house.

Nigel has taken Saltram back to its roots, focussing on Barossa sourced grapes and the styles of wine that had made Saltram famous for a century. Nigel's achievements during his time with Saltram include being named South Australian Red Winemaker of the Year in 1996 and Barossa Winemaker of the Year in 2000. In 2001 he was a finalist in the Qantas Australian Winemaker of the Year competition and in 2003 he was the winner of Australian wines greatest prize, The Jimmy Watson Trophy for Saltram The Eighth Maker Shiraz.