Today, the old Willows hospital is Peter and his wife, Tracey’s home where they raised their sons, Spencer and Jack.
There’s not a cast, splint, or x-ray machine in sight, but there is a mighty good collection of award winning wines that Tracey sells in the Cellar Door a little further up the driveway.
For Peter, it’s been a rewarding journey and one he hadn’t expected, especially as a youngster.
“I didn’t really have an ambition of where I was going,” says Peter. “As a kid I thought I would be a doctor but I watched my father getting in and out of bed all hours of the night to go and listen to other people’s problems and reckoned I’d have enough problems of my own, didn’t need to listen to anybody elses!
“I got sent off to boarding school which I disliked immensely…let’s say I wasn’t very successful as far as my academic achievement was concerned!”
But when Peter repeated his matriculation back home at Nuriootpa High School he was much happier, and having worked alongside his dad in the vineyards, friends encouraged him to take up winemaking.
“I wasn’t convinced that I had the where-withall to do it, but I applied to Roseworthy College and was accepted.”
A vintage at Saltram’s alongside the likes of Peter Lehmann, Andrew Wigan and Charlie Melton as part of his final year of university cemented Peter’s winemaking ambitions.
“That was a pretty tumultuous time in the industry as far as grapegrowers were concerned,” Peter recalls, describing how “PL” was planning to build what is now Peter Lehmann Wines at Tanunda.
He was working at Yalumba as a technical assistant when opportunity came knocking – literally.
“PL knocked on my door one evening. He and my father were great mates, they were actually second cousins,” Peter says.
“He asked if I wanted a job as a winemaker at his winery. I said absolutely! There was no negotiation about wages, it was just no worries, that sounds fantastic, be there tomorrow at 7.45. Oh, and by the way, Wigs is in hospital with an appendicitis and Charlie, the other winemaker, is overseas so you’re in charge! I’m going what? I was 24 at the time and I’m just thinking I’ve got this winery full of wine, how do I look after it?
“That was my start at Lehmann’s and still, to this day, I do a bit of work for Lehmann’s (Casella).
“I’ve been in every vintage there since 1980, except 1981 when I was at Yalumba.”
Meanwhile, Peter’s Dad, Bert was thinking Willows could start producing its own wine.
“We had played around a bit making wine for our own consumption,” Peter says. “But in 1987, Dad decided we should make a bit more, so we made a Shiraz and put it away in barrel, then he died unexpectedly in early 1988…Tracey and I had our first child on the way.
“I went to PL and said what am I going to do? I’m just going to have to stop the winemaking here at Willows. He said no you’re not and encouraged me to keep it up.
“In 1989 we released our first wines and the rest is history!”
Peter speaks of the long hours he put in at Willows plus the full-time workload he had at Lehmann’s.
“It was pretty full on. Two young kids and a great lot of support from Tracey, who was also a nurse working at Angaston Hospital, we were just trying to make ends meet.”
The early nineties “were good times in the industry” and Peter says they “found their feet quite quickly” to the point where he decided to spend more time in the family business and stay on at Lehmann’s as a vintage winemaker, a role he has continued since 2000.
“That’s me,” Peter says as he moves onto the next chapter in the Willows story.