If you could
showcase the history, evolution and revolution of the famous Australian wines,
there’s no better pick than the stunning
Barossa Valley for an Adelaide day tour, the land of six-generations of
grape-growing families and home to Australia’s collection of oldest vines
dating back to the 1840s!
The legacy
began with a European touch. But unlike other Australian wine industries, it
wasn’t the British but the German settlers who transformed the barren land to
the country’s most beautiful vineyards.
German
Lutherans, from the province of Silesia first came to Barossa around 1840s to
work for the London banker and merchant George Fife Angas. As the largest land
owner of Barossa back then with 11,300 hectares, Angas needed workers exactly
at the time when Lutherans were fighting religious persecution in their
homeland. Escapism brought them ‘Down Under’ and valleys started turning to
patches of grapelands.
Hearing the
tales of Angas, Samuel Smith, a brewer from Wareham sailed to Australia with
his family. He met his role model there who offered him the job of a gardener
on his land. Understanding that the soil quality and mesoclimate here are
perfect for vine production, Smith bought 30 acres of land from Angas. Then he
raised the first vineyard of Barossa in 1849, still persisting as ‘Yalumba Family
Vignerons’!
The success
story of Smith invited many vintners from Europe to Barossa. Soon enough the
transverse valleys became a hub of winemakers. Authentic varieties quickly won
over the world's wine lovers, from wine writers and sommeliers to wine geeks
and novices. This augered the start of a 'golden era' for the Barossa Valley
wineries and for Australian wines.
The early
focus was on the production of Riesling, a German wine grape from Rhineland
which was gradually ushered to many red grape wine varieties like Shiraz and
Grenache. This was also the time when Cabernet Sauvignon varieties conquered
premium wine markets around the world and Australian Shiraz considered to be
‘common’ collapsed in business. As a result, Barossa Valley disappeared from the
labels of global market.
Revolution
outbroke in the 1980s when several boutique families specializing in Shiraz
wines captured international attention with a new mix of a full-bodied red wine
with rich chocolate and spice notes. This led to a renaissance which catapulted
the region to the forefront of wine labels again!
Fast-forwarding
to the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, intense, concentrated and heavily naked
wines became the fashion of Barossa. Vintners experimented on new breeds of
grape growing and winemaking styles. Organic and biodynamic farming, earlier
picking dates, whole bunch fermentation, extended skin contact, fermentation in
amphorae and minimal intervention winemaking became some of the innovations
that wine enthusiasts around the world started admiring.
As wine
production expanded, chefs around the world came here to combine their recipes
with these wines, changing the perception of food-wine combo. Today, home to
over 550 wine grape growers and 170 wineries, Barossa Valley is one of the most
famed wine regions in the world with wines as old as 100-150 years including
the ones from 1840’s.
Not just
production, Barossa Valley also tops as one of the most popular destinations
for wine
tasting and sightseeing in Adelaide with views of scenic vineyards and
rolling hills. So have you made a trip to Barossa yet?
