INTRODUCING CHÂTEAU TANUNDA: Iconic Heritage Australian Winery

Château Tanunda is the Barossa.

This majestic bluestone winery and vineyard property is a living testament to the colorful history and pioneering spirit attached to Australia’s pre-eminent region. Now, thanks to the passion and dedication of its new owners, the Geber family, this icon Barossa estate is celebrating a new lease on life.

Built in the late 1880s, Château Tanunda is:  Home to some of the earliest plantings of vines in the , dating back to 1845  Australia’s largest (37,674 square feet) and oldest wine Château  A designated monument in Australia’s Register of State Heritage Places

Owner John Geber and his family are proud to have Château Tanunda stand once again as a regional hero winery in the Barossa since taking ownership in 1998. With the ‘Old Vines Series’ and ‘The Everest’ , Château Tanunda received regular international recognition by renowned wine critics and wine shows for producing some of the best wines in the world. The iconic ‘150 Year Old Vines 1858 Field Blend’, ‘100 Year Old Vines Shiraz’ as well as ‘The Everest ’ and ‘The Everest Shiraz’ are treasured by wine critics, wine lovers and wine collectors alike.

But first, a little history: Château Tanunda’s origins go back to the 1860s and the decimation of Europe’s vineyards by the phylloxera plague. Sensing opportunity in Europe’s pain, the three founders of Château Tanunda set about building a Bavarian-style Château dedicated to the production of fine quality wines. This grand vision would become for a while the largest winemaking facility in the Southern Hemisphere. European immigrants had been planting vines in the Barossa since the 1840s, so the region was a natural choice. The resulting wines, made from grapes produced by 560 local growers (paid a pound per gallon – a substantial sum at the time), were transported on company-owned ships to a wine-starved Europe.

Château Tanunda’s success was the Barossa’s success. For years it was the heart of Barossa winemaking. A veritable “Ivy League” of Australian winemakers worked or studied at the facility, including Prof. Soebels, Australia’s first qualified enologist; Bill Seppelt; Grant Burge; Geoff Merrill and others. In 1994, in recognition of its rich history, Château Tanunda was placed on the Register of State Heritage Places – but by then its glory days were a memory. Abandoned by its then owner, Australian wine giant Southcorp, the property was a shell of its former grandeur. When John Geber chanced upon it in 1998, and bought it a day later, he embraced the challenge of restoring this magnificent property to its iconic status.

Besides a wealth of history and a dilapidated 37,674-foot structure filled with roosting pigeons, what did Geber get for his investment? Well, fast-forward a decade and millions of dollars later and today Château Tanunda boasts a world-class winemaking facility, 220 acres of vines, a croquet lawn, cricket oval and spectacular hospitality spaces that play host to over 100,000 visitors every year. Further gems include long-standing contract with over 30 growers who give us access to further precious Barossa vineyards, many tended and passed down through their families over generations.

True to its Barossa heritage, Château Tanunda continues to source most of its grapes from local growers. It’s a business model that seems remarkably prescient in a time of a fruit glut. In the Barossa this has been a time-honored way of doing things and Château Tanunda, thanks to its deep Barossa roots, is blessed with access to some of the region’s finest growers.

In true Barossa style, Château Tanunda offers several Old Vine wines: the ‘150 Year Old Vines 1858 Field Blend’ (rrp $500/bottle) comes from a viticultural treasure in the Eden Valley which is possibly the oldest field blends of Grenache, Mourvedre Malbec in the world. The ‘100 Year Old Vines Shiraz’ (rrp $125/bottle) comes from old bush vine Shiraz in the hills above Angaston and is a ‘Barossa Trustmark’ product recognized for Barossa quality and heritage.

While the ‘Old Vines’ series is the expression of their vineyards, The ‘Everest Grenache’ ($195/bottle) and the ‘Everest Shiraz’ represent the two best barrels of their varieties for the vintage and are the pinnacle of quality of their vintages. All are made in only the best of vintages from hand- picked grapes, whole berry-fermented, hand-plunged, basket-pressed, unfined and unfiltered. There are also a more widely available expressions of Barossa Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as Eden Valley and Chardonnay in ‘The Château’ , ‘Grand Barossa’ and ‘Barossa Tower’ ranges.

New wines from an old estate: for the past decade, owner John Geber has put his heart, soul and business expertise into breathing new life into this historic icon of Australian winemaking. And so it is that this venerable property is now ready for its close-up.

All media enquiries to Mitchell McKenzie E [email protected] P 08 8563 3888