[4] He parted company with Saltram to become the Chairman of Peter Lehmann Wines, a role later filled by his son Doug.

After months of negotiations with Dalgety plc, which owned Saltram, he was allowed to start an outside company called Masterson Barossa Vineyards in order to buy and process the grapes.

While the core shareholding was intended to be taken up by the growers themselves and by staff, it was feared that the capital raised would be insufficient and so a share and option package was offered publicly.

In late 2003 'PLW' became the subject of a heated bidding war between UK-based Allied Domecq and Swiss based Hess Group.

Hess matched the Allied Domecq offer, adding a special dividend to the deal, and purchased the company for a market valuation of $103 million USD.