Do you like good food and wine, then you simply must visit the Barossa Valley.
The Barossa Valley is unlike any wine region in Australia. It is home to a rich local culture of produce, products, and viticulture that forms a European-like village paddock to plate culture in day to day life. The German-Anglo blend in its heritage is clear in the local town names, street names, foods and family names of those generations of locals who call it home. Whereas there is a certain level of homogeneity creeping in around many regions in Australia, this local culture that formed over 160 years ago from the first free German settlers, it can still be felt today.
The locals are proud, they work together in a very close sense of community, artisans and master farmers are prized, volunteer activities are the norm, and young families flock to beautiful parks, playgrounds, and cycleways. The community comes together, as they have for decades, at regular traditional events such as the Vintage Festival, the Christmas parade, Gourmet weekend and the local ‘shows’ where locals vie for the crown of best pumpkin, grapes and dill gherkins amongst many others. The scenery is pretty amazing as well.
There are local institutions such as the Angaston Farmers Market, the bakeries and butchers, and Maggie Beer’s Pheasant farm and everybody has their favourite producer of bread, olive oils, olives, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, sauces, jams and mettwurst. The local Bienenstich is legendary. You feel the seasons not just in the weather, but by seeing the local produce that is in season at the farmers market.
And it is, of course, a very very good place to grow grapes. Very.
It seems almost unfair how good the conditions are here sometimes. The soils, the climate, the weather patterns, the vine stock sitting on its own roots for decades and not to mention the local know-how passed down through generations on what-works-where. It is almost unbelievable that vines were being pulled out here in the 80s.
Barossa Shiraz is a unique style of wine that cannot be emulated anywhere else. It is big, bold, powerful, full of flavours of chocolate, dark berries, plums and a distinct Barossa dirty-spice. It also shows absolute class and complexity with a seamless structure when done well. Having been sheltered from many diseases and bugs such as Phylloxera, it is home to possibly the oldest Shiraz vines in existence. There are over 5 hectares of vines classified as Ancestor, i.e. over 130 years of age.
But it isn’t a one-trick pony. Although not sharing the same pedestal, Barossa Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon are some of the best wines in the world.
Most of the absolute iconic wines of Australia are from here. It is, with few exceptions, the only Australian wine region that regularly commands prices for wines at $50-$250 without any hesitation, and sells out.
Grenache is known as the “Pinot of the Barossa”. When done well, it is simply the most delicious savoury-fruit balance that makes it very easy to enjoy. The best hit a sweet spot of fine-boned structure, black olives and raspberry. It was once a favourite for fortified wines and brandy as it reaches high alcohols with soft tannins. As far as fortified wines are concerned, it also is home to the only wine the regularly gets 100 point scores from James Halliday and is basically a world treasure: Seppeltsfield 100-Year-Old Tawny Port.
It is home to real Australian Chateaux, which is a plural ‘x’: Chateau Tanunda, Chateau Yaldara, Chateau Barossa and Yalumba. It is also home to illustrious stories of families building winemaking legacies: the Hill-Smith family of Yalumba, the Henschke family, the Seppelt family of Seppeltsfield (who started their own village and even have their own mausoleum), Gramps of Jacobs Creek and modern heroes such as the Lehmann family, Rocky O’Callaghan of Rockford, and Dave Powell, the founder of Torbreck wines.
The names of the big wineries are probably already known to you: Jacobs Creek, Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Yalumba, Saltrams, Torbreck, Peter Lehmans. Some of these have wineries which are more the size of small villages and can be easily spotted on Google Earth.
Still big names, but more on the cult wine side are names such as Henschke, Torbreck, Greenock Creek, Rockford, and Chris Ringland.
The next size down, but by no means quality, are wineries that you will know from the fine wine shelves: Chateau Tanunda, Elderton, Kalleske, Teusner, Kaesler, Hentley Farm, Gibson, Murray Street Vineyards, Langmeil, Schild Estate, Turkey Flat, St Hallett, Charles Melton, Thorn-Clark, Kellermeister, Grant Burge. Almost all are family-owned, but all are world-class.
If that is not enough, there are host of young amazing producers that tend to produce small quantities of very good wines which are sometimes, let’s say, a little difficult to find (in no order): Yelland and Papps, Whistler, David Franz (Lehmann), Cirillo, Tscharke, Tomfoolery, Standish Wines, Massena, Schwartz,Izway, Naked Run, John Duval, Z wines, Tim Smith wines, Soulgrowers, Sons of Eden and Spinifex.
This is just a snippet with over 150 wineries to choose from. It is truly an area bursting with good wine and a must to visit for any lover of good wine and produce.
Your visit list:
Must visits: Chateau Tanunda, Yalumba, Seppeltsfield, Rockford, Torbreck, Artisans of the Barossa, St Halletts, Mengler Hill Lookout
Must drink: Eden Valley Riesling, All Grenache, All Shiraz, All Wines, Barossa Valley Pear Cider, Barossa Generations Gin, 100 year old Tawny Port
Must eat: Fermentasien (the whole menu), 1918 restaurant, Maggie Beers Farm for a platter, Vintners Restaurant, The Farmers Market, Tanunda Bakery, Apex Bakery, Eleni’s Ciabbatta
- WINEDUCATION - 