THE BAROSSA
A sense of unity is the Barossa wine region’s great strength. Almost all of its successes since the 1840s stem from the local wine industry members helping each other out. Although there have been tragedies, economic downturns and unexpected events, the Barossa has always prevailed. Since the earliest beginnings of a Barossa wine industry, the community has responded and adapted to the challenges of the times. Grape growing and winemaking began because early English settlers failed in their endeavours to farm wheat and barley on a large scale. Dwindling fertility and disease saw yields decline. Industrious German settlers and the visions splendid of 19th-century wine entrepreneurs transformed the landscape. Their efforts still stand in the form of surviving 19th-century vineyards and remarkable winery architecture. The region’s collaborative spirit and enterprise was sorely tested with the outbreak of the First World War, which had a disastrous impact on the German community, despite many joining up to fight with the Australian Imperial Forces. The de-Germanisation of place names around South Australia in 1916 was a knee-jerk reaction to the appalling losses of men in France, but it was also a disgraceful act that would take years for the government to redress (if it ever did). But out of these lost freedoms and unworthy suspicions grew a community that would value cultural diversity and inclusion. The wines of the Barossa are warm and welcoming, reflecting the generosity of spirit and hospitable nature of the community. The legacy of South Australia’s red wine export boom and transition to fortified wine production saw the emerging dominance of shiraz, grenache, and mataro in the Barossa. By 1942, the overall plantings of these varieties were proportionally similar, but mataro was the most planted in the region, with around 4,500 acres under vine. Although shiraz would later become the region’s star performer, it is worth noting that some of the Barossa’s old mataro plantings must have been grafted over to shiraz, but to what extent is not known. Other grape varieties also found a long-term home in the Barossa, notably riesling and madeira (semillon). And pockets of cabernet sauvignon, going back
‘Few disappoint, most are pleasing, and many are exceptional.’
Barossa 2023
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