The running theme through out the Barossa Valley has been family and tradition. This valley was settled by German and English settlers seven generations ago. And, today, everywhere we go, we are talking to winemakers you are the sixth or seventh generation. And, they are proud of keeping the family tradition. Now, all of these families were growers who sold their grapes to the large co-ops. Their grandfathers and great grandfaathers had planted the current vineyards with Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvedre, Riesling and Semillon, amongst other grape varieties. When Dan Philips, owner of The Grateful Palate and passionate about Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, started to search for vineyards and producers who had the ability to produce world-class Shiraz, he constantly discoverved these small growers who had in their possession these incredible old-vine vineyards. And, it wasn't hard to convience these growers to either sell their fruit to Dan and or to become winemakers and make the wine for Dan. As I said in an earlier blog, the Barossa Valley was becoming known as a world-class region for making Shiraz. What Dan Philips did, with the help of a few winemakers, is push that envelope and to turn over ever stone in the valley looking for quality vineyards. And what he has today is relationships with many growers that have been settlers for many years. Rusden, Hutton Vale, The Willows, Gibson, Kalleske, Rockford, and Burge are just a few examples. But, what is interesting to learn is that these growers and winemakers are becoming famous in the international wine community. But, they have no plans of creating big wineries with fancy tasting rooms and selling T-Shirts and Olive Oil. No, there goals are to continue the tradtion that their fathers and grandfathers started. The valley is throughly a tight-knit family community and I don't see it changing. The Barossa Valley is in the spotlight, and these guys are not going to let it go to their heads. They are working hard to contiune that tradition.
I want to talk more about the varieties of Grenache, Mourverde, Semillon and Riesling. Everyone assumes that Shiraz is the major grpae of Australia, and it is. But, that doesn't mean that other wines aren't being made. And I can tell you that I have tasted some incredible Grenache - Mourvedre blends, along with exciting dry Rieslings and Semillons. More later.
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