Top honours for Peter Kelly at AWAC
18 November 2010
The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) and the Royal Adelaide Wine Show have announced that Peter Kelly, Winemaker at Peter Lehmann Wines, has been awarded Dux of the 2010 Advanced Wine Assessment Course (AWAC).
The AWRI’s Advanced Wine Assessment Course, held recently in Adelaide, put 30 participants through a grueling four day tasting boot-camp. Participants evaluated a diverse range of more than 316 wines under simulated wine show conditions.
“Peter’s reliability score in wine assessment was outstanding,” said AWAC coordinator, Con Simos. “He also impressed us with his contribution during the course in the discussions of the wines.”
The Dux of the AWAC is offered a position as an Associate Judge at the next Royal Adelaide Wine Show. Brian Walsh, Chairman of Judges of the Royal Adelaide Wine Show said, “Well trained and skilled wine assessors are essential for ensuring the continued quality of Australian wine. We are delighted to accept Peter as an associate judge for the next show.”
Peter’s journey with wine began when he moved to South Australia from Queensland to complete the Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Oenology) at the University of Adelaide.
Since graduation, Peter has worked as a Winemaker and in 2009 was awarded the Wine Society “Young Winemaker of the Year – Members Choice” award.
Peter joined the highly awarded PLW winemaking team in July 2010 and has taken every opportunity to enhance his winemaking skills. In accepting the award of Dux, he commented, “the four day course was extremely challenging, but it was great to test my sensory assessment skills and reliability. The tutored session on detecting current common winemaking taints and faults highlighted our personal areas of strengths and weaknesses and gave me a greater appreciation that I can take back to the winery.”
Chief Winemaker Andrew Wigan said “we are thrilled for Peter and consider this a great achievement against some of the best young winemaking talent in the country. He is a skilled winemaker with a very good palate and we are delighted to have him as part of our team. The company is extremely proud of his achievement and wishes him every success with his wine show judging career”.
