Our Region
Discover The Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley has been at the heart of the Australian wine industry for more than 160 years due to the perfect blend of climate, soils and elevation.
The Barossa Valley lives, eats and breathes wine. The culture of the region is rich and unique, most famous for its deep, warm red wines made from Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and an exciting selection of alternative varieties.
Vines in the region date back to the 1840s, with some of these original vineyards producing tiny amounts of incredibly intense fruit. To the east of the Barossa Valley floor lies the cooler Eden Valley, which produces wonderful Riesling and fragrant, delicious reds a little more refined than the blockbusters from the valley floor.
The Barossa is a marvellous place to visit and one of Australia’s few wine regions with its own, unique culture.
The first settlers in the area became known as the Barossa Deutsch. Most immigrants were refugees from Silesia, then part of Prussia, who planted the first vines on the valley floor in the 1840s.
While the Germans settled the valley floor, a few aristocratic British settled the area around Angaston in the hills towards the Eden Valley. The two groups have always prospered together, with food an integral part of the Barossa; German styled smoked and cured meats can be found in all good butcheries.
The ‘Valley’ is a long plain which sits at an average elevation of 230m. Small hills lie on the western side and the steeper Barossa Hills leading toward the higher Eden Valley on the east. The region includes the towns Nuriootpa, Tanunda, and Angaston.
The Barossa Valley receives moderate rainfall, mostly falling during the winter months, and has high summer evaporation and low relative humidity. This climate produces relatively low disease pressure, which limits the need for chemicals in the vineyard and maintains the natural environment.
The soils of the Barossa Valley are predominantly red brown loams, which are non-cracking, well-structured and relatively free draining, making them ideal for growing grapevines.