One UK wine importer we deal with has a strapline on its website saying that ‘Our wine is the product of our people’.
They go on to say ‘In theory we’re a wine business, but really, we’re a people business’.
Spot on.
Wine really is as much about people as it is about grapes and places. People plant and cultivate the vines, pick the grapes, make the wine, taste the wine, bottle it, sell it to a distributor who gets it to restaurants and wine merchants and ultimately to you, your dining table, and your family and friends.
Provided the vineyard is not really ancient, it is entirely possible for you, on a visit to Tuscany, to say hello to the man or woman who planted the vines responsible for the Chianti you quaffed with your spag bol last Saturday night – and everyone else down the chain involved in getting it to your table.
So, for me, the most important part of my life in the wine trade has not really been the wines I have been privileged to drink but the people I have been privileged to meet.
Wine people are in the main, good people, fun people, who work hard but enjoy life to the full.
This is no more true than in the Barossa Valley in South Australia where they do really wear their heart on their sleeve. The wines here are big, honest and flavour packed, but it’s the people here that stole my heart when I first visited in the early 1990s. I’ve been back several times and, if Guernsey were no longer to be my home, then I’m pretty sure you would find me in the Barossa.
You’ll find the Barossa around 35 miles away from the city of Adelaide. Whereas most of the Australian wine regions had British influence, the Barossa was different – you’ll find oompah bands still playing here and folk occasionally wearing lederhosen.
While nearby McLaren Vale was settled by the British, the Barossa was settled in the early 19th century by German immigrants fleeing persecution from the Prussian province of Silesia. Many of the towns here have German names.
The settlers wanted something to drink so they planted vines – many of which are still growing and producing grapes for wine. The Turkey Flat winery is still producing commercial wine from vines planted in 1847.
The Barossa does not have the unadulterated beauty of Western Australia that we visited last week, or the pretty picture-postcard rolling hills of the Clare Valley or the Yarra Valley in Victoria. Nor does it have Sydney’s stunning harbour.
It’s a hot, dusty place in the summer but it is quintessentially Australian – I’ve never seen an Aussie wearing a hat full of dangling corks but if I wanted to find him I reckon the Barossa would be a good place to start.
If you fancy a holiday in South Australia, Adelaide is a great city to base yourself in. I usually hire a car here – you can be standing in the Barossa or McLaren Vale within an hour of being in the centre of Adelaide.
The ‘City of Churches’ is smaller than most other cities here. It’s flat and easy to get around and it is home to some of the best restaurants and wine bars in the country as well as an impressive food market. If you enjoy Asian-style cuisine you could spend a month here and eat in a different Asian restaurant each night. If you are missing the sea, beaches are a 10-minute tram ride away from the centre.
I used to try to get there in February as the Edinburgh Fringe arts festival exports itself to Adelaide then – and it’s a bit warmer than Edinburgh.
The Barossa is mainly red-wine country though excellent riesling is made in the adjoining Eden Valley and top-notch chardonnay and sauvignon blanc is grown in the cool of the Adelaide Hills.
However, it’s shiraz that most wine buffs think of when someone mentions the Barossa.
Barossa shiraz is a big burly red, full of chocolate and spice, the sort of red to curl up in a chair with on a cold winter’s night when the rain is lashing down outside. In the summer it will happily cope with barbecued steak and burgers even if your sauces are spicier than a Jilly Cooper plot.
The Barossa is home to some of the most famous wine brands in the country – Penfolds, Jacob’s Creek, Peter Lehmann, Seppelt, Wolf Blass and Yalumba all have their homes here.
Don’t overlook the smaller wineries though. The very first red wine I ever tasted on Aussie soil was Charles Melton’s Nine Popes, a blend of shiraz, grenache and mourvedre. I thought it stunning then and I still do. Rockford is a lovely winery to visit as they are still using some machinery more than a 100 years old – their Basket Press shiraz is an Australian icon.
Many wineries take wine tourism seriously with top-notch restaurants in the grounds as well as guided tours. Some have accommodation. You shouldn’t run out of places to see – there are more than 150 wineries in the Barossa.
One thing is for certain – not only will you drink great wines, you’ll receive the warmest of welcomes from some of the most open-hearted people to walk the planet.
Yep, wine really is all about people.
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