The Barossa

The Barossa Valley is Australia's most famous wine region — and the only Australian destination on the New York Times list of '53 places To Go To in 2008'. Comprising of the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley, it is home to some of the oldest Shiraz vineyards in the world, acclaimed Rieslings and iconic wine brands. The Barossa is a gourmet lover's paradise enriched in a strong cultural heritage reflected in its wine, food, buildings and people. Diverse experiences including festivals, events, the arts, bushwalking, golf, cycling, shopping can be enjoyed amongst a stunning Australian landscape of rolling hills, manicured vineyards, and closely linked towns and villages.

For more information on the Barossa please go to the official site at www.barossa.com

Regional Statistics

The Barossa as compared to other world wine regions.

  Barossa Valley McLaren Vale Heathcote Rhone Rioja
Vineyard Area (ha) 10,356 7,129 1,880 79,330 49,776
Altitude (m) 250–370 50–200 160–320 100–400 460
Heat Degree Days
Oct-Apr / May-Sept		 1,487 1,707 1,579 1,344 1,386
Annual Rainfall (mm) 505 513 578 904 392
Mean January/July temperature  (°C) 21 21.7 21 21.5 21.3

Source: Wine Australia: Viticulture & Environment, J Gladstone.        

Climate

The Barossa Region has a typical Mediterranian climate with dry summers and mild winters. Most rain falls between April and October and the average rainfall is 550 millimetres. Autumn — March to May brings mild days and chilly evenings. Winter — June to August brings chilly days and cold nights. Spring — September to November brings fresh mornings, sunny days and cool evenings. Summer — December to February has warm days with temperatures up to 35°C being common.

The summer climate is very similar to conditions experienced in Bordeaux and Margaret River, although the Barossa does have marginally higher average temperatures, lower rainfall and lower humidity. In all great for growing the big red styles that the Barossa is famous for, as well historically fortified wines and more recently Rhone style whites.

Soil Types

Much work is being done at the moment by David Farmer (a leading South Australian geologist www.glug.com.au) to further define the soil types of the sub regions of the Barossa. However if you were to summarise the types of soil in the Barossa there are 2 main types, both of which are relative low in fertility:

  • brown, loamy sandy to clay loam
  • sandy light brownish grey to dark grey brown soils

In the future, instead of hearing of northern, southern, eastern or western Barossa, or of Kalimna, Moppa, Lyndoch or Stockwell, we will hear, as well, of the southern angular-rock type soils, the cobbled soils of Rowland Flat, the alluvial rich river bed soils of Nuriootpa/Light Pass, the Kalimna dunes and the Gomersal Ridge sands.

Through Farmer’s work we will be able to see each of these and more in the context of the Valley as a whole: starting south at the separate Lyndoch Valley with its slopes, flats and feeder valleys; then north over the ridge into the southern Barossa proper with its rolling, North-Para-River-eroded landscape; over the Gomersal plateau with black, cracking soils, inhospitable to vines, and its magic, sandy western ridge; through to the rising and flatter central and northern valley to the Kalimna sand dunes; east to the rim of the recently uplifted ranges (the Eden Valley) and across to the lower, more eroded western rim, including the Marananga and Seppeltsfield bowls.

Sub-regions

This sub-region work being done by Wine Barossa has more recently loosely defined the regions and in a ground breaking tasting held at Seppeltsfield in July 2008 and has them as follows. As with David Farmer's work you will see more information coming out as to the differences in these sub-regions and why they make different styles of wine.

  • Western Barossa/Gomersal/Rosedale
  • Lyndoch/Williamstown
  • Rowland Flat/Krondorf
  • Angaston/Barossa Foothills/Bethany
  • Eden Valley
  • Light Pass/Dorrien/Nuriootpa
  • Ebenezer/Kalimna/Koonunga
  • Greenock/Seppeltsfield
  • Marananga/Stonewell

For more information regarding sub-regions, please click on the following links below for detailed maps of the Barossa and Eden Valley wine regions.

Landscape

At the Barossa’s highest point, Mengler’s Hill is 510m above sea level and forms part of the Eden Valley ranges. However the Barossa Valley floor is lower beginning at c150m at Lyndoch and heading north is c260m at Tanunda, c275m at Nuriootpa and c340m at Moppa.