Peter 'Juicy' Gajewski
Australia
Giving you access to Australia's juiciest wines
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Peter’s story can be summed up in 5,000 acres — from helping out in a vineyard as a child to harvesting fruit from that exact same spot as a Senior Winemaker for Australia's most iconic producer Penfolds.
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He’s spent the last 40 years making world-famous blends from Scotts Creek — the vineyard he helped plant as a kid — only now he’s making wines under his own name. It doesn't get much more full circle than that!
- Angel funding is allowing Peter to bring his legacy to wine drinkers everywhere — big, rich and unashamedly enjoyable wine at a ridiculously good value. He really knows how to squeeze the most out of Scotts Creek fruit — they don’t call him Juicy for nothing!
Peter 'Juicy' Gajewski's Story
“I was born and raised in the Barossa Valley. Growing up in a grape growing and winemaking environment, wine was in my blood so to speak. My journey began in the vineyards as a cheeky little child.”
Peter’s family lived in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. Though he'd been interested in vineyard work since he was little, tagging along to work with his mother at her seasonal Penfolds job after school and on holidays, his attitude towards the vineyard was, “who didn’t grow grapes in the Barossa Valley?” The work didn’t seem special until he got the chance to see a real master in action.
Max Schubert, the father of Penfolds Grange, saw potential for high quality grapes in Riverland and decided to plant the region’s first grade-A vineyard. Fourteen-year-old Peter spent the summer of 1974 helping to plant Penfolds’ Scotts Creek Vineyard, and something clicked. Peter knew he wanted to devote himself to crafting quality wines. Without knowing it, he’d also obtained the golden ticket to an illustrious winemaking career.
“This barren land was to be planted and I was keen to help, but at that age I wonder just how helpful I was. I listened and learned so much from the old timers, and marvelled at their wisdom and experience (I still remember the heat, dust, and flies). I never knew I would return here in the future.”
His Career
After leaving school and joining the world of wine, Peter worked with a few smaller family wineries in Mclaren Vale, Victoria, New South Wales and Barossa Valley. These smaller wineries gave him a chance to get creative with his craft. He had the opportunity to deal with “everything from grapes to glass: viticulture, cellarmanship, vinification, analysis, the art of blending, production, logistics and marketing.”
Then his journey came full circle when his tie to Scotts Creek Vineyard helped Peter land a job at the famed Penfolds. His tenacity and experience with all aspects of winemaking helped him climb the ladder to Senior Winemaker and he became responsible for the entire Scotts Creek Vineyard and wines produced by it. In 1995, after 24 years of getting to know Scotts Creek Vineyard, he left the state for new opportunities, but the vineyard couldn’t stay away from Peter for long!
Sharing Scotts Creek
When he returned to South Australia in 2012, he met the new owner of Scotts Creek Vineyard completely by chance. The owner recognized that he’d be hard pressed to find a winemaker more invested in and in tune with the vineyard, and agreed to a partnership. Peter knows how to coax the best out of Scotts Creek fruit, and is proud to put his name on every bottle he shares with Angels.
“I love seeing people enjoying the fruits of my labor, and it’s so important to me that the wines I create are in a style that the Angels enjoy. I pride myself on really listening to the people drinking my wine, they are the ones I make for. It is an honor to have the privilege of making wine for Angels. It allows me to share my skill and passion with genuine people!"
