The ‘Dad with purple hands’ has been recognised as the Barossa winemaker of the year.
Wayne Dutschke, the winemaker behind the Dutschke label, has been honoured by the Barons of Barossa.
Stephen Henschke, the Barons Grand Master, said Wayne had been selected because he is one of the Barossa’s quiet achievers.
“Wayne is a great winemaker and a great guy,” Stephen Henschke said.
The Barons selected Wayne because of his hard work to produce wines of great quality- along with his marketing of the region in his travels.
“Despite his business, he’s had time to author a great children’s book called My Dad Has Purple Hands,” Stephen said.
While Dutschke Wines produces about 5000 cases-per-year, there has also been a children’s book mixed in.
“There are a lot of technical books on wine, but no kids’ books,” Wayne said.
Inspired by his soon-to-be six-year-old Sami, the other Dutschke winemaker, Wayne’s book captures all that’s good about a Barossa vintage and the winemaking process - from a child’s point of view.
“Sami was three-years-old when she did her first pump-over,” he said. “If you ask her who the Dutschke winemakers are she’ll tell you ‘me and Dad’.”
Wayne’s wine career started in 1979 in the cellar for Yalumba.
The family-owned company assisted his journey through the winemaking course at Roseworthy.
Between stints in the Barossa there has been quite a bit of time in Victoria, as well as vintages in the USA, Spain and France.
The Dutschke Wines journey began when a partnership was formed between Wayne and his grape-growing uncle, Ken Semmler, in 1990.
Initially, the pair admitted they had an “expensive hobby” but by 1998 the Dutschke brand had emerged.
The winery, which juts off God’s Hill Road, was built in 2004. Although he grew up in Elizabeth, Wayne’s family has always been connected to the God’s Hill Road and St Jakobi area.
Wayne admits that his success has come through a lot of good timing.
“I didn’t necessarily have a dream to have my own winery,” he said.
“But it’s a pretty good way to spend the days.”
His aim is to produce the best red and fortified wines possible from a unique patch of the Barossa - the Lyndoch district.
“There’s not many handling small batches from this area,” Wayne said.
“Sub-regions are something everyone has been talking about and it’s something we’ve been doing.”
The winemaker was surprised and humbled to be highlighted by the Barons.
“We chip away in the shed and don’t notice that people are watching,” Wayne said.
He was thrilled to be part of the Declaration of Vintage.
“It was a great day, a great event and a great honour,” Wayne said.
“And I had a bit of a tear in my eye.”
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