Barossa Valley

The Barossa Valley is undoubtedly Australia's best-known wine region, both nationally and internationally, and is South Australia's most visited tourist destination. Only 70km North of Adelaide or less than an hour’s drive, the Barossa Valley is full of charming towns that flaunt their German heritage. Towns of the Barossa Valley include Nuriootpa, Tanunda, Angaston, Rowland Flat, Bethany, Langmeil and Lyndoch.

While many place names throughout Australia are corruptions and mispronunciations of Aboriginal words, ‘Barossa’ is actually a corruption of a Spanish name. Colonel Light having originally named the hills above the valley the Barossa Ranges, meaning ‘Hill of Roses’, after a battle he fought in during the Spanish Peninsula War.

Bethany is reputed to have been the first settlement in the Barossa Valley region in around 1842. And it was very soon after this that the first German settlers began to arrive in places such as Tanunda. These first German settlers came from Prussian Silesia and called the region Neu-Schlesien, or ‘New Silesia’. But settlers always came from other parts of the world, with nearby Angaston, for example, named after the Scottish George Fife Angas, being settled mostly by Cornish miners.

Germany in the 1840s was suffering increasing unrest, a period that culminated in the famous 1848 revolutions that swept throughout the German states and much of Europe. The suppression of these revolutions saw even more people deciding to join those who had already left for destinations such as South Australia. These settlers began to produce wheat, wool and wine; supplying towns such as Kapunda, which was largely inhabited by miners.

Like NSW, South Australia was able to escape the phylloxera pest that affected Victoria’s wine regions. As a result some of Australia's oldest vines, particularly Shiraz, live within the Barossa Valley. The Barossa Valley region is nearly as old as the Hunter Valley in NSW when it comes to the age of some of its vineyards. Yalumba was founded in 1849 and the oldest vineyard in the Barossa Valley is that of Langmeil Winery, established in the 1840s.

The Barossa Valley is set at around the 400m mark and has dry summers and cool wet winters. Overall its climate is very reliable; making is a perfect region for good grape growing. Irrigation is sometimes desirable but in general minimum water use is preferred.

The Barossa Valley region is most well-known for its red wine, particularly Shiraz but such varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon and Chardonnay, as well as Riesling and Grenache are produced, in addition to many fortified wines.

The Barossa Valley has more than 80 wineries, many with excellent cellar doors for the lucky wine taster. Among these is the Eighteenfortyseven Vineyards at Rowland Flat. The ‘1847’ property is named for the date of the original land, a grant it is claimed that may have encompassed the site of the first Barossa Valley vineyard.

The Willows Vineyard is owned by the Scholz family, whose six generations in Australia has included a long history of health care as well as winemaking. The Scholz’s began in Australia in 1845 when Johann Gottfried, a Prussian Army ‘bone-setter’, began farming in the Barossa Valley, including grapes. But it was for his medical skills that he was most sought after until he turned his cottage into a private hospital. The Scholz family continued this medical tradition down the generations, while also planting vines for commercial use in the 1930s. Today the Willows produces Shiraz and Semillon as well as Cabernet, Grenache, Mataro, and Riesling.

The Barossa Valley can be enjoyed in many ways, and perhaps one of the most enjoyable is the Barossa Cheese and Wine Trail, which combines the delights of the Barossa’s many wineries with its natural accompaniment, cheese, provided by the Barossa Valley Cheese Company.

Perhaps more than any other wine region in Australia, the Barossa Valley’s is home to many wine events. These include the biennial Barossa Vintage Festival, which has a huge street parade and is the longest running Wine Festival in Australia having celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007; also Discover Seppeltsfield Road Day, in May; Whistler Wines Stew and Shiraz Day, in June; and the International Shiraz Alliance, also in June.

All of these events and more can be enjoyed with great foods, which in the Barossa Valley means great German food. German style smoked and preserved meats; cheeses; onions and gherkins; sauces and mustards, and many more will be found wherever you go in the Barossa. And to help you keep the weight down while enjoying all this good food and wine, the Barossa Valley has numerous bicycle tracks and places to hire bikes, which its mild climate allows you to partake of with minimum stress.

The Barossa Valley is best known for its Shiraz, renowned throughout the world as one of the best. Grenache is now becoming more popular and the Barossa has some of the oldest Grenache in Australia. Mourvedre is grown here and often blended with Shiraz and Grenache. For whites, the Semillon of the Barossa cannot be beaten for flavour and freshness. In addition, the Barossa’s fortifieds are outstanding.