Nigel Dolan - Barossa Valley Winemaker of the Year

February 13, 2000

Nigel Dolan, senior red winemaker at the Saltram winery in the Barossa Valley, has been named the Barossa Valley’s Winemaker of the Year.

The announcement was made at the traditional Barossa Declaration of the Vintage held this morning (Sunday Feb. 13) in Tanunda.

Dolan was officially presented with his award by the Barons of the Barossa, a colourful group of Barossa winemaking identities including Wolf Blass, Peter Lehmann, Stephen Henschke and several other Barossa Valley "legends".

Dolan was chosen from an ultra-competitive field for the work he has done in restoring the Saltram and Mamre Brook wines to their original Barossa roots and continuing their resurgence in quality.

His Saltram No.1 Shiraz is now considered one of the benchmark Barossa Valley shiraz styles while the Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz continue to win accolades and gold medals.

"This is obviously a great honour for me," Dolan said on receiving the award.

"But it is also a great honour for all our winemaking staff and particularly the growers without whom we could never make great traditional Barossa wines. It is their vines and their dedication that make my job easier."

Nigel has been senior winemaker at Saltram since 1992 after an eleven-year stint at the Seppeltsfield winery on the other side of the South Australia’s most famous valley. In fact the year 2000 marks his 21st consecutive vintage in the Barossa.

Nigel has a great emotional attachment to Saltram as his late father Bryan was senior winemaker from 1949-1960 and then general manager of the Saltram Wine group from 1960-1979.

Nigel was in fact born in the beautiful Mamre Brook house (built 1844) which adorns the labels of the Saltram wines he crafts so carefully.

From vintage 2000 Nigel has taken on a more senior role for Mildara Blass as Senior Red Winemaker for South Australian Central wine regions (Clare, Barossa, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale) while retaining full control over the style and quality of the Saltram wines.

Nigel joins previous winners, Penfolds white winemaker Neville Falkenberg and Yalumba winemaker Louisa Rose as recipients of the Barossa Winemaker of the Year award.

For further information please contact Saltram.

Go Back.