Peter Lehmann, Barossa Valley

Hi Lindsey

Thanks for your note and also visiting the Barossa.  I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit to Peter Lehmann and hope that you got to try and few of our wines at cellar door.  I've provided some answers below and hope that they will assist with your project.

Cheers

Paul

1. How do you feel about Australia's current wine market?

The current market is tough.  Oversupply in Australia and the wider global market is driving price points down and a very high $A is making export markets less profitable – in some cases unsustainable.  That said, strong brands that have high quality credentials and a strong consumer franchise will continue to do well.  

2. How many cases do you produce annually? (so we can get an idea of the winery sizes that we are comparing)

We produce around 750,000 9L cases per year.

3. About what percentage of your wine is exported?

Exports account for around 70% of our total sales volume.

4. Which countries do you choose to export to and why?

We currently export to over 60 countries around the world.  They are split between emerging, established and mature.  Different markets will offer different opportunities, so we look at what is currently selling within the Australian category and wider, what we can offer to add value to the market and what level of investment is required to get our wines distributed in the key channels we want to compete in.

5. How would you compare Australia's wine market to California?

From a production perspective, Australia is a much smaller than is California and I'd suggest far more diverse.  The land mass of Australia is pretty similar to the entire USA, and we've regions dotted throughout which leads to a great diversity of styles and varietals.  In a branding / marketing sense I think that there is a lot of similarities in the way wines are sold.