The Barossa was never just a place Richard worked. It was where he grew up.
Richard Mattner was born at Light Pass, a quiet hamlet sitting just a valley away from the Saltram winery. He went to school at Tanunda Primary, then Nuriootpa High, in the heart of the Barossa Valley. For most kids, school holidays mean the beach or the backyard. For Richard, they meant his grandfather's vineyard at the highly-regarded Light Pass district, where he picked grapes and rode in the old Bedford truck to the winery whenever he could.
He left school and went straight to work as a cellar hand in 1993. The Barossa was in his blood and the wine industry was where he was headed.
Over the years that followed, he built his knowledge from the ground up, working alongside some of Australia's well-regarded red winemakers and spending a vintage working as a winemaker in the Napa Valley. In 2004, he formalised what he had been learning for over a decade, graduating from Charles Sturt University with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Wine Science.
In 2007, Richard took on the winemaker role at Pepperjack. He describes winemaking as an art form, another way of expressing himself creatively. As he puts it: "It's just something that I love to do."
His approach to the craft sits at the intersection of deep respect for Barossa tradition and a genuine curiosity about where the wines can go next. He has a particular focus on Barossa Shiraz, as well as Shiraz from other South Australian regions including Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale. But the range he has helped build at Pepperjack now stretches well beyond red wine, covering Chardonnay, Rosé, Sparkling, Sauvignon Blanc and more.
When he is not in the winery, Richard is watching sport, cooking with friends, or firing up a slow-cooked lamb shoulder with a bottle of Pepperjack open on the table. He still lives in the Barossa Valley with his wife and their two children. The place that shaped him is still the place he calls home.