Adelaide in South Australia is a gateway to the region
that is considered the best and most renowned wine producer
here in the entire country.
It's called Barossa Valley.
And today, we'll see how many wines we can try.
Yes, we started with a good breakfast.
- Bacon.
How many wines can we try today?
- 152...
and a half. - [laughs]
How many days you think we're staying there?
- Two. - Sorry to say,
but this is just a day trip.
- There it is, Trailhopper
- Oh, yeah. Yeah. Our bus has arrived.
We have pickup here from the city center.
- Hello. - Hey, guys. Good morning, guys.
Australia is in the top five
of wine-producing countries in the world.
We created blended wines.
You're going to love them and they're really cool.
These vines here on the left are the oldest Shiraz grapes
in the region,
and they are over 150 years of age, and still producing.
Our driver and guide was very knowledgeable
about the region
and gave various tips about the wineries.
We chose three very different to visit.
Bethany Wines on top of this hill...
They are a small family producer.
This is the oldest German Village in the Barossa Valley.
A lot of Barossa Valley was mostly settled
by a combination of English and German Lutherans or Prussians,
who were escaping religious persecution.
Enjoy the stop this morning, guys, to the area now
- Thank you.
- See you at 12:14. - Yes, see you.
- Hi, how are you? - Hi, very good. And you?
- I'm good. Thank you.
Are we looking at doing some tasting today?
- Yeah, mm-hmm. - Beautiful.
- Our first tasting.
We've got the Grenache, which is 80-100-year-old vines...
- This wine right here.
- Look at this, the village itself.
This is like a story, it's got all the different chapters.
When we first came down from Prussia,
people used to say 'What's new?', what are the things you're doing,
and they were doing all the things here...
- Oh, wow.
This is a family-owned winery.
Look at you, like a connoisseur.
[laughs]
- You will like it.
- Oh, I love it.
I love it.
Wow, it's the type of wine that I love.
It's so smooth.
It's my first wine in the tour and it's already my favorite.
[laughs]
- It says the village was settled in 1842.
1852, first vines were planted.
- So this next wine here is a blend.
- GSM which is a mixture of Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro.
Grenache, as you had before,
has a soft character, a strawberry character,
until you get to Shiraz as your backbone,
and Mataro gives a little bit of an earthy trick.
So interesting that Australia was originally criticized
for blending grapes, but it works.
It is so good.
- Do you normally drink more medium bodied
or heavy-bodied?
- I normally don't drink at all. - Okay.
[laughs]
So you might find these next two, they get a little bit heavier.
Definitely a lot more of those oaky, kind of earthy flavors in it.
Does really well with steaks, I think, for that one.
- Okay. - The next one I have here for you guys
is a Cabernet Merlot.
This one is a 70-30 split between Cabernet and Merlot.
- Let's see if you did your homework.
What is the most famous grape here?
What are they known for?
- Shiraz. - Yeah, good job.
- I didn't do no homework.
I guess, very good. - [laughs]
- This one is a Shiraz.
So what we are known for in Barossa and also at Bethany.
So you see the color of this one, it's a very deep kind of red,
is because it is a very heavy type of grape.
- Here is the Shiraz.
I can see how darker it is.
- This one spends about 16 months in French oak.
- I think you definitely taste more...
...the oak.
I don't know, I'm not a wine connoisseur, but...
[laughs]
I think this is what they call bodied wine, I think.
I'm just repeating what they're saying.
Yeah, I think this is stronger.
I prefer the first one. That was my favorite.
Thank you very much. - Thank you.
Our very stop, I'm already leaving with a bag.
And the area here is really beautiful.
We're on top of a hill. We can see the vineyards down there.
Wow.
[music]
This winery here, Bethany,
they are considered a small producer here in the Barossa Valley,
and I just learned that they have vineyards since 1852.
But they only started producing wines 40 years ago,
and they keep it within the family.
Here is the bus.
- How were the wines? - Hello. Good.
I got something. [laughs]
- Well, one of the other guys bought a box.
- A box? Wow!
- Did you like the Grenache?
- Yes, yes, very good.
- The vine you see on the left... - Oh, yeah.
That's the Grenache. - Ah!
- Grenache is growing differently to all the vines.
It's growing like in a bush, rather than trellises.
That's why it often is a little bit softer
because the grapes tend to be a little bit lower down
on the vine, and it's gonna be...
it keeps in the shade a little more...
- Ah, it makes sense.
[music]
Now, our next one, the Lambert...
This is a little bit close to home for you guys.
Jim and Pam, who are the owners,
they moved here from Wisconsin for wine-making
- Okay.
Do they still have the complimentary tasting here?
- Yes, they do.
- A lot of wineries in Barossa always did complimentary tasting.
- Mm-hmm. - But for some reason,
rather they just shifted away from it,
sort of tastings are becoming more of a common ground.
- Uh-huh. - See you back in an hour.
- Okay. Thank you.
- Hello. How are you doing? - I'm good. And you?
- Very well. And you're doing a tasting with us today?
- Oh, yes. - Sure.
- Lambert. - What I might do is...
Just to make it a bit interesting for both of you.
We'll line up something like the Riesling and the Viognier.
And that way you can see the weight difference between that
and some flavor difference,
that might be nice to have a little sip of each.
And if you want your own glass because he's drinking too much,
you let me know. - [laughs]
You'll often see Eden Valley on the label,
because it has its own geographical indicator.
Australia-wide and globally recognize that as a really good region,
whether it be your whites, or whether it be your reds.
Eden Valley is pretty much over the hill from here.
So it's a cooler climate, Barossa is Mediterranean.
- You chose to go for whites this time.
- Yes. - Ah.
- Probably only about 25% of the Barossa would be white,
the rest is reds, and also for fortified as well.
So I'm lining you up with our beautiful Chardonnay.
This one has only had around the 20% of the oak,
and a little bit of malolactic.
So you'll get more of a fresher, cleaner feel for your Chardonnay,
not that buttery oak-driven style...
- Okay.
- ...that tended to be quite predominant a while ago.
And this is grown right at the front of the estate
when you come in.
This is our Zinfandel rosé.
The Zinfandel is grown just on the back of the property there.
- Mm-hmm.
- (let me know) if you want me to take a picture of you two
So different.
It's different from anything I've ever tried.
Wow.
- I'm gonna let this one stand by itself when you finish those.
This one is a little bit more fruit driven.
I use the word "fruity." I don't use sweet.
But when I say fruity, people think sweet.
It is sweet fruit, but it's not sweet sweet.
- Okay. - I don't know.
- Interesting. - Yeah.
Mmm. I love this one.
Yeah, it's the best one.
- The Miss Sunshine is just great.
- Yeah. - Lower in alcohol, too.
It's really got low sugar.
So what I've brought for you
is just a couple that are in a more softer fruit driven style,
and that's Tempranillo.
So you've got Spanish variety,
a great fruit wine, easy drinking.
And the Merlot,
so the Merlot have more variety structure,
a little bit firmer, fleshier feel,
and the Temp will be soft and kind of "juby"
- You said "juby", as in...
- You know, like when you have a really ripe plum,
and it sort of really fleshy and juicy.
Juby is not a technical wine term.
- [laughs]
- So with all my years of study, I'll throw a few things here.
So just to keep you on the right forward there... - Yes.
To see if you're paying attention. It's all right.
I really like showing the Merlot against the Temp
more for the weight, the structure, and the feeling difference.
- That's nice.
- It took you a long time. [laughs]
- No, that's nice, I like that.
- You were elaborating on the wine, thinking about it?
- No, just tasting it.
I actually like that, better than the other.
Wow, I agree. That's very nice, the Merlot.
Very nice.
- Lighter, much darker.
- Yeah, so interesting.
Let me compare now to the Tempranillo.
Very soft. I think I prefer this one, baby.
I think I prefer this Tempranillo, compared to the Merlot.
- I like the Merlot better, the Merlot for me.
- How's it going, guys?
- I prefer one, he prefers the other.
- That's it! Isn't it great? - Yeah.
- This is Mourvèdre, also known as Mataro.
We used to grow so much more Mataro,
and used it as our fortified when we did a lot of corks.
And it was a great blender in those days,
throwing in a bit of Shiraz or Cabernet.
Now we do it as a GSM blend, Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre or Mataro.
So that's the M in that.
So it really does give a bit of softer structure.
Tones down the ripe Grenache,
tones down the full-bodied Shiraz.
It's a bit like putting salt on your chips, I'd say.
And this is a softer Shiraz.
So it's the First Chapter.
So then I'm going to bring in another full-bodied Shiraz.
- I can't drink anymore.
I'm sticking with that Merlot. I think I've had enough, yeah.
- What about you, Renata? Are you alright?
- Yeah. I'm the one who doesn't drink here. [laughs]
- What I've done for you is just the Cabernet to break it up,
and then the biggest Shiraz, The Commitment.
- Okay.
Look at that, you can clearly see again the different colors.
Oh, this is very nice.
Try it. You can't!
It's really good.
- I'm sticking with the Merlot.
[laughs]
Oh, Gordon! I was gonna say, I've got the Merlot packed out for you.
It's all right, mate.
- Feel free to go for a little wander... - Yes.
- Go out at the back and get some fresh air.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you so much.
- No trouble at all. My pleasure.
- How nice!
Lambert is totally family-owned and operated.
- Mm-hmm. - Everything is actually done here.
So underneath here is our barrel storage area.
Just down the back, there's our bottling line.
Just over the side is our tank storage area.
Everything actually happens here on site.
So it's a fully functional, total producing winery.
- So beautiful, huh?
Now the number one rule when you visit wineries
is don't walk through the vineyards.
You could bring bugs that could eventually destroy
the entire production,
and they'd have to shut it down for years.
The founder of this winery here is from Wisconsin,
and from someone from the U.S., it's missing the American flag here.
Have you seen it? - No.
Thank you so much. - Thanks, Renata!
- Oh, there you go.
It was just in a different part of the building.
Second winery, second wine.
So which one did you choose here?
- I chose the Merlot.
I thought we agreed on the white, the Miss Sunshine.
- No, I like the Merlot. The Chardonnay was nice.
The Riesling was nice.
You waited for the minute I went to the bathroom
to place an order. [laughs]
- No, I didn't.
- You strategically did that.
- No. - [laughs]
- How many wines did we try here?
- Too many.
- I don't even know anymore.
- I think only here we had like 10, right?
- Yes.
- Four white and six red.
- There was a Rosé. - Yeah.
- Wow.
- It's too many, because you kind of lose track of taste.
- Well, you did, I didn't.
I'm still fine. We got another one to go.
We're visiting different wineries today.
At first, we thought we could, oh, we could go to like five different,
but, no, you can't. [laughs]
I think we'll probably just stick to three, right?
- Yes, that's it.
And it is actually so nice to talk to people here,
because they are so knowledgeable.
They explain you all the details of the wine,
the family traditions as well.
It is really nice.
And everybody is so friendly.
- Go on, ladies first.
- Welcome back. - Hello. Thank you.
They didn't get any recommendations?
What are you getting back home? What was this one? Grenache again?
- Merlot. - This is Merlot.
- Jim as an engineer, he's thought of everything.
There's solar panels on the roof.
There's Tesla chargers at the front.
There is water storage up the back.
They have big tanks that they collect off the roof,
and then it goes... and it's used through the building.
You can only buy their wines either online or here at the cellar door.
- Oh, wow.
We're privileged. - Yeah.
- Look at the sheep!
Barossa have a habit of doing something quite unusual
with some of their vines,
which I haven't ever heard about being used
in any other wine regions in the world.
When we get really hot dry conditions or heat wave conditions,
between 35 and 45 degrees or more,
they will spray some vines with sunscreen.
- Oh.
- The reason they do it is because those particular varieties of grapes,
their leaves under that hot heat have a tendency to burn.
Now when they burn off, then it does leave
the fruits unprotected,
and then they lose between 20% and 30%.
If you see some vines that look either slightly different
to the greenish color they look at the moment,
but gray or a bluish color,
it's because they've been kind of bathed in sunscreen.
It's not that they've got a disease or mold or fungus,
or any of those bad things.
It's just that they are getting a little bit of help.
Usually, a kilo of fruit equals a bottle of wine
on average.
You guys are going to Yalumba next.
- Yes.
The Hill Smith family,
the oldest family-owned winery in Australia.
There are wineries that are older than them,
but not in family hands anymore.
But if you see their wine labels anywhere in the shops,
or bottle shops and things like that,
or restaurants,
every single wine bottle has the clock tower on them,
because it's sort of the benchmark of what they were created from.
- Thank you. - Enjoy yourselves, mate.
- Yes, thanks. See you.
- Wow, this one is probably the biggest here in the region.
This is family-owned, right? - Mm-hmm.
Also... Guess, since when they can trace their roots here?
- 1782. - No.
- That's a little bit too much. [laughs]
- Okay. 1842.
- Oh, that's close, 1840s. I think it's 1849.
And it is a beautiful property.
Welcome to Yalumba.
[music]
This is the only winery in the Southern Hemisphere
to have a cooperage on site.
What that means is that they produce the barrels right here,
and then they sell to the other wineries.
Look at that, he's producing the barrels right here.
[music]
That is so cool.
Other wineries might even have a cooperage,
but it's not operational, like this one.
[music]
- I've already ordered.
- Huh...
- Coonawarra Barossa.
- Oh, my God!
Wow.
Is that the most expensive here?
- Yeah - I guess, right?
Oh, you got an expensive taste.
- Yeah, I got you.
- [laughs]
- Cheeses and cured meats there.
Some fresh and dried fruit,
olives, sourdough,
a bit of everything. - Okay.
This time, I'm going with reds. Gordon is going with whites.
And it's interesting that it's a totally different experience here, right?
We got all of them together and the food.
So the white ones you're looking at, you're starting on Chardonnay.
For us, the Chardonnay styles are all about being really fresh
and vibrant and fruit-forward.
Roussanne is next.
It's a French varietal from the Rhône Valley.
It's often always blended, but we love to make it on its own.
And then the next two is really what we're really invested in,
which is Viognier.
In the '70s, there was record low plantings of the Viognier.
There was only 11 hectares left globally.
So a varietal that was really going to disappear.
So our owner decided to invest in Viognier,
and keep in mind it's about 12-year journey,
and deciding, "Okay, I want to bring that varietal to Australia"
to actually being able to source fruit from it.
So it's quite an investment.
So since then, it's become a bit of our signature white wine style.
You've got two different styles you can play with.
Now you tell me. What have you memorized?
- I've got a card for that.
- Ah, you're so smart. [laughs]
- And then the reds... Grenache,
very on trends in the Barossa Valley.
Grenache has always been here,
but it's often always been blended off or used for fortified wine.
But at the moment, it's very popular to have it on its own.
Grenache is really fruit-forward and vibrant.
It's soft on the palate, so it's not like a big, heavy Shiraz,
which dominates the Barossa.
So it's a nice contrast for us.
Next one, GSM.
That's Grenache, Shiraz, and Mataro blended together.
A personal favorite of mine.
More medium-bodied...
Shiraz, you're in the land of Shiraz.
I mean, you'd have to be trying to make a bad Shiraz from the Barossa.
We're just very blessed, the variety thrives down here.
And then, you've got Shiraz Cabernet which is a signature of ours.
It's the classic old Australian red wine blend.
I'll let you enjoy,
and if you have any questions, just give us a wink
- Okay. Thank you. - Great, thank you.
- So interesting that as you go to different wineries,
the experience is totally different, right?
But seeing the wines that we're gonna try,
I think it's kind of the same grapes.
We start with the Grenache, then go to that blend,
then the Shiraz which is the typical from this region.
Very cool.
Look at how light this is.
We have opposite ways to go for wine tasting.
You totally finished one before you go to the next.
- Mm-hmm. - And I, no!
I try all of them at the same time.
- I don't like to mix the taste. I like to experience one.
And then move on. - Okay.
While I prefer to compare one to the other.
Jamón
- It's fantastic. [in Portuguese]
Amazing.
- I think you'll like that.
- Yeah, it's really good.
- That's enough. - I love it.
It's enough? [laughs]
My favorite wine of the day.
It's the very first one that I tried on the first winery,
tried in the second as well,
and here in the third, it's also the first wine
that they gave on the list. It's the Grenache,
because it is so soft.
I had never tried Grenache before, and it is fantastic.
Which one is your favorite?
- I don't have a favorite, not yet.
- Not yet? So you need to keep going, is that what you're saying?
This winery is so big that they got a map here, right?
- Yeah. - Wow.
- A little bit about Yalumba.
By Australian standards, it's quite historic.
It's Australia's oldest family winery,
six generations in that same family,
which was started back in 1849
so that family is the Hill Smiths.
They live on the property here as well,
so they are very much very involved in the business.
- Beautiful property.
I don't think I've ever had so much wine at the same day
in my whole life.
No. [laughs]
And I feel totally fine.
Guess how many grape-growing families they have in this region?
- 322. - 550.
- Oh, yeah? - It's a lot.
- That's a lot, yeah. - Wow.
And here, they also have some of the oldest vines in the world.
We only visited three wineries here,
but they have 150, which is so cool,
because as you keep coming back to Adelaide,
you can keep visiting new ones and try different wines.