Varieties Barossa Chapters

Barossa Chapters Varieties Barossa Chapters Varieties Barossa owes much to Europe. Its name, cultural instincts, languages, food, viticultural and winemaking heritage, are all transportations that have been moulded and honed by 175 years of Australian innovation. Cover Image: Robert Hill-Smith & Louisa Rose Yalumba Barossa One could be forgiven for thinking Entrepreneurs with big visions built white wines such as Riesling and Barossa was settled by the Spanish. stone wineries and started making Chardonnay as well as medium body Its name can certainly be traced fortified “ports” and “sherries” as well reds such as Shiraz and Cabernet. back to the windswept Barrosa Ridge as fine table wines called “claret” and Now Barossa is the most recognised in the Spanish region of Andalusia “hermitage” and “burgundy”, paying name in Australian winemaking, due to where in March 1811 Lieutenant homage to European tradition. Barossa its forgiving viticultural environment, General Thomas Graham of the became the largest wine-producing its treasure-trove of century old British Army defeated the French region in Australia by the turn of the pre-phylloxera vines and its six Marshal Victor, during the Napoleonic century, sustaining a community of generations of grapegrowing and Peninsular Wars. grapegrowers, winemakers, cellar winemaking heritage. hands and coopers and earning Graham received a peerage and significant export income for the state But it has also evolved over 175 years was named Lord Lynedoch but it was of South Australia. into much more than a wine region. his young aide-de-camp Lieutenant Old Silesian cultural food traditions William Light who was to remember Through the 20th century Barossa had continue to be celebrated, such as the the name. When he was appointed its booms and busts – Imperial demand fermentation of meats into sausage Surveyor General of the new colony of crashed during both wars and in the and wursts; salting and smoking South Australia in 1836 and discovered post-war 1960s and 1970s customers hams and bacon; the preservation of a verdant valley he named it Barrosa wanted sweet sparkling wines such as fruits and vegetables such as pickled – and a slip of the pen by a public Barossa Pearl and Cold Duck. onions and dill cucumbers and the administrator gave the region its Finally Barossa settled on what its soils maintenance of age old baking unique name, Barossa. and climate do best – ripening red wine traditions: sour dough breads, pretzels grapes – and from the 1980s onwards and streuselkuchen. However it was not Spanish but English its fame grew for its full bodied Shiraz and Silesian settlers who pioneered and Cabernet, Grenache and Mataro. There are also European music traditions the region. The English, including the In the late 1990s during an still maintained such as brass bands and colony’s founder George Fife Angas, international boom in demand for men’s and women’s choirs and Barossa took over pastoral sheep and cattle Australian wine, the Australian Wine continues to be the epicentre Lutheran runs in Eden Valley, east of Angaston; and Brandy Corporation decided to faith in Australia with more than a and the Silesian settlers – mainly define Australia’s regions along similar dozen steepled churches dotted across peasant farmers and artisans fleeing (but less restrictive) lines to Europe’s the valleys. Prussian religious persecution – settled appellation system. the Valley floor at Bethany, Langmeil, This colourful culture has attracted Tanunda and Nuriootpa. The Barossa’s winemaking geographic thousands of new settlers over indication zone was formalised in 1997, subsequent generations, continuing After experimenting with a range comprising two regions: the warmer the immigration that started in the of crops, from flax to tobacco, the Barossa Valley “floor” specialising in 1840s, making Barossa a vibrant, Silesians found the Mediterranean red wine and the cooler, higher altitude diverse and exciting contemporary climate suited wine grapes. Eden Valley, which focussed on fine Australian community. Barossa Chapters Varieties Barossa Varieties Barossa’s Barossa is more than Shiraz. Even Barossa Cabernet is not a recent uniqueness is its though half of the region’s vineyards phenomenon – few wine lovers would diverse palette are planted to this popular variety that know that Penfolds Block 42, planted of varieties and seems to grow well in just about every in 1888 is one of the oldest surviving creek and crevice across the region… Cabernet vineyards in Australia flavours and there is more. and even fewer would know that textures – certainly it comes from Kalimna in northern Shiraz but also dry Take Grenache – the old workhorse Barossa Valley. grown Grenache variety that partnered Shiraz in so many and black- fortified “ports” and “sherries” during But for much of the last century currant Cabernet, the 20s, 30s and 40s that is now finding Cabernet was blended with Shiraz high country a lively new life for itself as a varietal to make “claret” style wines – medium Chardonnay and table wine. to full-bodied, long living wines with old vine Semillon. richness and palate length. It is a testament Like all Barossa wines there is a spectrum of Grenache styles Now growers are rediscovering the to its survival and depending on soils and climate – from variety, seeking out richer soils with longevity as a deep, rich old vine reds that compete greater clay content, often in higher global region. with Shiraz in complexity right through altitude locations, that maximise the to pink and salmon coloured rosés cool climate varietal flavours that are that are made for uncomplicated distinctive to the region: blackcurrant, summer sipping. plums and cherries. But the greatest re-imagining of this It is also these cooler aspects that trusted variety is the fresh, young produce the best known of the Barossa’s medium-bodied Grenache styles that white varieties – Eden Valley Riesling. are appearing on many Barossa cellar An internationally recognised style that door shelves and restaurant lists – has a unique purity and minerality, Eden succulent and juicy with a potpourri Valley Riesling is distinguished by its of spices and herbs on the nose and lime-lemon bouquet and a remarkable palate they meet today’s demand palate softness, that offsets its from consumers for lower alcohol and considerable acidity and length. food friendliness. Clinging to the traditional Eden Valley Classic Cabernet is also finding a “rubbish over rock” – granite outcrops new Barossa personality, again as with schist subsoils – the vines work winemakers and grape-growers learn hard to give forth wines that, protected more about the influence of place on under screwcap, will age into “toast wine style and flavour. and marmalade” treasures after 20 – “When I think about Barossa I reflect on Peter Lehmann who always liked to lecture me that the Barossa uniqueness was its diversity – he’d say where else can you drive 15 kilometres one way and find the finest Riesling in the word then drive five kilometres the other way and discover the best Shiraz in the world. This region is not a one trick pony and we should celebrate its diversity under the trust mark of the Barossa.” Robert Hill-Smith Yalumba 30 years. These steep windswept rises and rocky gullies are also home to an exciting new breed of Chardonnay. The variety found its Barossa feet in the 1960s and 1970s at Heggies and Mountadam, up in the High Eden ranges, but were unfashionable until the early years of this century. Now new Burgundian clones are putting their roots down in small plantings based on soil type and mesoclimates with spectacular varietal success – complex, yet fresh and zesty Eden Valley Chardonnay will be the next big thing in Barossa. The next re-invention will be Barossa Semillon. The other trusted workhorse of the fortified era it has played second fiddle to many other white varieties over the last 20 years giving richness and balance to multi-purpose blends. True believers such as The Willows Vineyard and Peter Lehmann Wines (Barossa’s most famous Semillon is named after Margaret Lehmann) continue to keep the true varietal style alive – crisp freshness, great palate weight and extraordinary ageability – while young guns such as Marco Cirillo are defying fashion with a lemon and honey masterpiece from some of the oldest Semillon vines in the world. Learn more and watch videos at barossa.com/wine/barossa-chapters. Barossa Varieties There are more than 40 grape varieties planted in Barossa, with the top ten varieties comprising 93% of total. In 2017, there was a total of 13,872 hectares of vineyards, with Shiraz vineyards being 56% of this total. (See Barossa Chapters – Shiraz for more information). However, as well as Shiraz, there are some key varieties planted and made, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot and Mataro (as locals call Mourvèdre) being the next top four red varieties planted. The top five white varieties are Riesling, Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. Each of these varieties is finding their natural place in Barossa with different flavours and expressions depending up on the mesoclimate, soil, the grower and the winemaker. Key Facts of the Barossa Varieties Riesling Chardonnay Riesling is the most important white variety in Chardonnay is the second most important white Barossa, thriving in Eden Valley and cooler sites in variety in Barossa, growing equally well in Barossa Barossa Valley. In 2017, there were 726 hectares of Valley and Eden Valley. In 2017, there were 592 Riesling vineyards which is 5.2% of the total Barossa hectares of Chardonnay vineyards which is 4.3% of vineyards. Riesling was first planted in Eden Valley by the total Barossa vineyards. Joseph Gilbert in 1847. Australia’s first cool climate Chardonnay vineyard Typically produced in a dry style, characterised by was planted in High Eden in 1972, where it continues flavours of lime, lemon, floral perfume, minerality and to grow today.

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