Discovering The Heart of Wine Utopia

Isaac Taylor

If you ever find yourself in Adelaide, consider taking the 56km drive northeast of the city to visit Barossa Valley. Nestled here you will find a veritable utopia of 13,000 hectares of vineyards occupying what is now considered the country’s oldest and most premier wine regions. Here you’ll find some of the countries best Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Semillon.

Of course you can’t visit Barossa and leave without tasting Barossa, that’s where all the fun is to be had after all. Along the aptly named Eden Valley Road, you’ll find Yalumba, Australia’s oldest family-owned winery. Before pulling in, we definitely recommend your tasting to be booked ahead, don’t take a chance on ruining a perfectly good day by goofing the reservation.

Yalumba prides itself on letting nature take the lead, with just the right application of confidence and expertise to tease it into a good direction. Apparently nature wants us to experience some extremely drinkable wines. The hallmarks of a good glass of Yalumba is defined by toning down on the oaky smoky palates in favour of fruity freshness.

My recommendation to anyone is to check out their Barossa Shiraz, Barossa Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon, or Barossa Bush Vine Grenache.

The Shiraz is typical of Yalumba’s unique style, rich and moreish. The Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon is a modern twist on the Aussie classic, rich with brooding dark chocolate flavours from the Shiraz. Finally, the Bush Vine Grenache comes in with that light bodied flavour I mentioned earlier with bright Barossa Grenache flavours. For pairing on this particular bottle, we suggest you match it with a roast pork or miso roasted eggplant. We also recommend all of these are paired with good company.

Fortunately, we don’t all need to travel to the heart of the Barossa Valley to sample these wines, as they made the journey over the ditch to be available here in New Zealand as well. Consider it a small piece of Australia’s utopia; bottled and sent to us.