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The stunning Barossa Valley, located within 1 ¼ hours from of Adelaide, South Australia, and is world famous for its award winning wines. The Barossa region was settled by German settlers in 1842 who established the first town, Bethany. It was these early settlers who first brought with them some vine clippings from Europe and found the deep soils of the Barossa and the Valley’s warm climate ideal for growing vines.. Award winning red wines, particularly Shiraz types, is what the Barossa area is most known for. The Barossa|Barossa Valley|region|area] is now becoming renowned for its elegant white wines as well as its heavy. The higher hill regions of the Barossa is where the white grapes grow best, and on the lower Barossa floor areas where the red grape varieties grow best, where the soils are rich deep red clay soils.

The more notable wines produced in the Barossa Valley include Penfolds, Schild Estate, Jacobs Creek, Wolf Blass, Grant Burge, Langmeil, Rockford, Yaldara, Bethany and Turkey Flat. Some of these wineries are now commercially owned by big corporate businesses, while others remain run as family businesses.

One of the most notable wines to come out of the Barossa is the Penfolds “Grange”. The Penfolds “Grange”, originally made as an experiment vintage in 1951 by local winemaker Max Schubert has received over 50 internationally acclaimed Gold wine awards. This bottle from the original 1951 vintage, considered to be a highly sought after collectors item, is most notable not only for its full taste but also for its ability to age well. In 2004 one of these 1951 vintage bottles sold at auction for just over AUS$50,000.

The Barossa Valley celebrates its rich wine growing history with a number of yearly cultural festivals. The most popular of these is the Vintage Festival, which occurs every second year. This Vintage Festival is held in April and is a celebration of the season’s vintage. One highlight of the Vintage Festival is the Vintage Ball.

The Barossa Valley’s wine making industry is an important aspect of the region, and its close ties with its German heritage is still very evident today.

The Barossa is primarily known for its red wine, in particular Shiraz (Syrah). Large proportions of Barossa Shiraz is used in Penfolds Grange (Australia’s most famous wine). Henschke Hill of Grace, another high profile Australian wine, also uses Barossa Shiraz in its production.

The Barossa is situated about an hours drive north of Adelaide. The Barossa is made up of two different regions – the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley.

The Barossa Valley is generally less than 400 metres above sea-level and stretches from Williamstown in the south to Kapunda and Truro in the north. The red-brown soils are more fertile than those of the Eden Valley but rainfall here can be up to 50% less.  The temperatures in the Barossa are usually 2ºC warmer than the surrounding regions.

The Eden Valley region starts from the north at Truro and goes all the way south, down to Mount Pleasant. On average the land ranges from about 400 to 600 metres above sea level with a majority of the wine growing land located in the higher sections of land. Soils are rocky and acidic and winter rainfall is plentiful, averaging 255mm more per annum than the Barossa Valley. Temperatures are cooler therefore the growing season is longer.

When this is all added together, you end up with a great concoction for grape growing!

There are about 550 growers in the Barossa, some of them sixth-generation Barossans.  When combined, the total growing area is over 8,000 hectares which yields around 55,000 tonnes of grapes each season.
The Barossa has remained phylloxera free since growing first started here. This has allowed most of the wineries in the area to keep their original root stocks and has some of the worlds oldest vines.

Even though the Barossa represents about 5% of Australia’s national crush, the fruit produced is premium quality. The history of the Barossa and its disproportionate presence in the super-premium categories make it Australia’s most influential and internationally recognized wine region.

No wonder Barossa Shiraz is revered around the world.

Follow the link for more information on Barossa Valley Shiraz .