The Napa Valley of the 1970's

It is amazing to learn and see that this wonderfull place called The Barossa is something relatively new to the wine world. When you meet and talk to these winemakers from Barossa, it is pretty clear that they are still in the beginning stages of discovering what exactly the valley can produce. Driving around the valley, the landscape is very similar to the Carneros region of Napa. But, the difference is that the wineries of the Barossa are mixed farms, which is to say that the farms not only grow grapes, but also may raise cattle or sheep too. You will not see any big wineries with front gates that attract the visitor to the driveway. Here in the Barossa, every winery that we have gone to is about the size of the garage in your home. Now, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Everything is very simple, very much of the family farming community. I have not seen one BMW or Mercedes Benz in the driveways. These people are third, fourth or fifth generation farmers that were not in it to become rock stars. Robert Parker, Jr. may have helped put Australia in general and The Barossa Valley in particluar on the world wine map, but it really comes down to the people working the vineyards. And I'm talking about Chris Ringland, the most respected winemaker in Australia and one of the top winemakers in the world. And, there is Rick Burge, Bob Mclean, Damion Tscarke, Trevor Jones and a few others that are realizing the resources that are in the vineyards. And, I am talking about 30, 40, 50, sometimes 100 year old Shiraz and Grenache. And, these guys are not trying to make a wine that resembles Chateaunuef-du-Pape, Hermitage or Cote-Rotie. Instead, they are making wines that represent the terroir of Australia. It is as if the story of Robert Mondavi spreading the word about the Napa Valley back in the 60's and 70's. In this case, it is people like Chris Ringland and Dan Philips of The Grateful Palate spreading the glorious news of Australian wines. This is the Napa Valley of the 1970's, still in the growth stages of what is one of the most exciting areas in the world to grow grapes and make wine. I know it is hard to not think about Australia without some sort of animal label on the bottle, but instead in the near future you will be seeing varietals like Grenache, Mourvedre (Mataro), Semillon, Sangiovese, Zinfandel and other unique varieties on the shelves. The story is that Australia is still very young when it comes to the world wine market. But, keep your eyes open for really fun wines in the future. Do not be afraid of picking up one of these wines, they will amaze you.

Comments

[Deb]

So, what are the top five non-animal label Aussie wines I can buy in Knoxville?