When I lived in South Australia in 1978, the wine region I first visited was the famous Barossa Valley. And the first wine I sipped in the Valley was something I’d never heard of before: Shiraz. Back then, there were no Shirazes in B.C.! It was love at first sight and first taste.
When I returned to South Australia forty years later, my first destination was to head to the Barossa, an hour north of Adelaide. The valley has an unbroken grape and winemaking lineage since the early 1840’s and it has some of the oldest grapevines on earth.
As one of the world’s classic wine regions, its rare wines distinguish the Barossa Valley. Old vine Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and 100-year-old Fortifieds are the classics.
Yet there’s a strong element of innovation in finding new grape varieties to plant, especially from Italy and Spain, to keep abreast of climate change and to cater to new consumer tastes.
In the hamlet of Greenock, I visited the boutique Murray Street Winery. I met with winemaker James Wooler who gave me a tour of the winery and the Shiraz and Cabernet vineyards. Amongst beautiful gardens, vineyards, and traditional blue and red stone winery buildings, guests experience an intimate personalized sit-down wine tasting.
For a tasting experience on a grand scale, I headed to the modern Jacob’s Creek Visitor’s Centre at Rowland Flat. Jacob’s Creek is Australia’s largest wine brand and they’ve been making wine since 1847. It’s now a leading tourism site with sweeping views of vineyards and hills.
Within the Centre, visitors can taste Jacob’s Creek wines as well as cellar door exclusives with a structured or casual format. They can also enjoy lunch at Our Table restaurant that offers Australian cuisine matched with their wines.
And there’s a wine and food matching experience, wine and cooking classes, plus a picnic lunch between the vineyards. The Centre also offers a unique blending session where you can make your own blend of wine by mixing the varietals in varying proportions
Afterwards you can take a peaceful native garden walking trail and enjoy the wildlife while you stroll along the banks of the world famous Jacob’s Creek.
In contrast to Jacob’s Creek is another boutique family owned winery, Whistler Wines. This Whistler doesn’t have snowy slopes but it does have Australians and tasty wines with a real homey feeling. Almost all the employees are family including winemaker, Josh Pfeiffer. As a result, the Pfeiffer family has an intimate understanding of the wines they produce on their 35 acres of biodynamic and organic vineyards with seven varieties planted.
Their cellar door is in a wonderful bush setting off the Seppeltsfield Road. Visitors can sample all of their wines from Riesling and Semillon, to Cabernet, Merlot, and Shiraz.
Whistler’s focus on family extends across all the facilities. They have BBQ facilities for free, a great play area for the youngsters including a kangaroo enclosure. On special days they have face painting, clowns, craft activities, storytelling, and a whistling competition.
Eric Hanson is a Richmond resident who is fond of Aussie wines and the Land Down Under.
