Barossa Valley – A History of Barossa Wine   

When you mention the Barossa Valley, it cannot go without saying something about the wine. The Barossa Valley is world renowned for producing top quality wines, especially Shiraz. The wine industry in the region plays an important role in its economy, tourism, and employment. Many residents in the Barossa Valley work within some form of the wine related industry. 

When the early German settlers arrived in the Barossa Valley some bought with them vine roots in order to settle with good wine stocks. The rich soil of the Barossa, which ranges in type from deep red clay soil on the Valley floor, to deep sandy soil and sandy loam on the slopes and outer edges of the Valley floor, was found to be excellent for good grape growing. Combine this with the perfect weather, being wetter in winter, and the dry warm summers, made for excellent grape qualities. News quickly travelled and more and more Germans settled in the area and began planting vineyards. It is often the very warm summer months of February and March time, just prior to harvesting of the grapes, that can put stress on the vines which leads to very concentrated grape flavours. 

The Barossa Valley is best known for its Shiraz wines.  Very rich, strong, bold flavours are extracted from the grapes, leading to many of the Barossa Valley Shiraz wines winning world wide acclaim.  Other varieties grown in the region include Cabernet Sauvingnon, Grenache, Semillon, and Riesling.  The red grape varieties are traditionally grown around the Valley floor region of the Barossa Valley and the white grape varieties are traditionally grown in the higher regions such as Menglers Hill and Eden Valley.  It is the cooler temperature, higher annual rainfall, and softer soils found in this region that tend to grow great white varieties.  In comparison to the rich deep red/brown clay soils that grow very strong red grape varieties. 

The Barossa Valley has some of the oldest Shiraz vines anywhere in the world.  This is due to many of the old vines, throughout Europe, almost being wiped out entirely from disease in the 1800’s.  There are a large number of wineries throughout the Barossa Valley region.  From the large commercially owned and run vineyards such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass, and Jacobs Creek, to the family owned and run businesses such as Yalumba, Peter Lehman, and Rockford.  There are also many small boutique wineries throughout the entire Barossa Valley such as Heritage Wines, Eden Vale, Two Hands, Bethany, Saltram, and Elderton. 

Shiraz:   the vines have black grapes, grow best in stony granite and rich brown/red clay soils, the characteristics of a Shiraz wine is its general high tannins, its acidity, and for its dark chocolate and blackberry flavours.  With age, a Shiraz will generally become rich, bold and earthy.  The Barossa Valley is one of the major growing regions of the world for Shiraz.  Other regions include Rhone, Hunter Valley, and McLaren Vale.  Shiraz is the most planted variety in Australia, and Australian Shiraz is the second largest plantation of Shiraz in the world, second only to France. 

The international success of such wines as Penfolds, Lehmans, Rockford, Jacobs Creek, Wolf Blass, and Yalumba have all helped to increase the popularity of Shiraz over the world.  During the 1970’s many Barossa Valley winegrowers were removing their Shiraz vines and planting white varieties due to the popularity and demand for white wines both locally and internationally.  But that trend has certainly changed.  As more and more Barossa Valley wines win international acclaim, the popularity of the Barossa Valley Shiraz continues to increase. 

Probably the most well known Barossa Valley Shiraz is Penfolds “Grange”.  Created in 1951 by Max Schubert, a local wine maker who was chief wine maker at Penfolds from 1948 to 1975, the “Grange” has won more than 50 international Gold awards.  It is best known for its reputation of ageing well.  Other notable reds from the Barossa Valley include Penfolds “RWT” and Henschke’s “Hill of Grace”.