Vintage winescapes of Barossa Valley

the Barossa Valley is not only replete with venerable vineyards producing top quality wines but also has great places to sample the synthesis of European and Australian cuisine...

That Barossa Valley, just a little over an hour by car from Adelaide is a wine region goes without saying. All I could see for miles around as I drove through were vineyards upon vineyards, with the paraphernalia of wineries providing a counterpoint!
Famous for being Australia's most important wine region, Barossa is rich in heritage and local culture. More than 160 years after Europeans settled there, its history continues to fascinate visitors. They come from all over to see and sample Barossa's finest Shiraz, Riesling and Grenache.
The countryside is replete with rounded hills and sweeping valleys that change with every season, especially the vineyards. Originally named by Colonel Light as the Barrosa Valley (after a region in Spain - the Hill of Roses - where he fought in the Spanish Peninsula War), it was corrupted to Barossa due to the general illiteracy of the times! Twenty-five Lutheran families initially settled at Bethany in 1842; the next year others settled nearby at Langmeil, which grew into the town of Tanunda.
More and more small German groups arrived and although there was a leavening of English, Irish and Scots, the valley became the German Lutheran 'heartland' in Australia. I learnt that traditional styles of dress, food, festivals, buildings, farm implements and practices persisted into the 20th century, and a hybrid speech, 'Barossa Deutsch', developed with German and English words!
No comparable area in rural Australia is so dotted with the steeples of little churches, most of which are still well used and immaculately maintained.
The three major towns of the Barossa, each have a distinctive personality. Tanunda is generally recognised as the most German of the three with longstanding traditions dating back to the 1840s.
Because many of them came from Prussian Silesia, they called the Barossa Neu-Schlesien, or "New Silesia". for nearly three generations it were the Germans with their customs, religion, language, songs, food, houses, entertainment, festivals and dress, that made up the most dominant cultural group in the Valley.
The third town, Nuriootpa, was influenced by both communities, and today is the commercial hub of the Barossa where most of the larger stores are now located.
When Barossa struck gold in 1849, some 4,000 prospectors arrived, leading to an explosion of small trading posts and businesses. But when the gold ran out, miners per force tur ned to far ming, seeking their fortune instead in wheat, wool and wine.
In fact, though the Barossa Valley is now known as a wine region, early farming there was mixed, with an emphasis on wheat. Only in 1847 did a Bavarian immigrant Johann Gramp plant vine cuttings from Germany in the rich soil of Jacob's Creek, thus starting the first commercial vineyard.
The first wine was made in 1850, after which things moved slowly till the turn of the century. Now, of course, Barossa is one of Australia's major wineproducing areas with 45 wineries making a quarter of Australia's total vintage.
Shiraz is the queen of the Barossa and are some of the oldest vines in the world as they escaped the phylloxera epidemic that ravaged European vines in the 1800s. These venerable Shiraz vines produce highly concentrated, complex, rich red wines. Softened by some oak and resplendent with juicy berry fruit, dark bitter chocolate and slight minty characteristics, Barossa Shiraz is truly a treat. Like Shiraz, the Grenache vines there are also some of the oldest in Australia and make for very intense wines.
Many wineries of the Barossa take advantage of the superior Riesling grapes grown in Pewsey Vale and neighbouring Eden Valley. And of course Chardonnay remains a Barossan favourite due to its versatility. And fortified wines like port and sherry have always had fans so Barossa has its own varieties too.
The German settlers also brought along their food culture, which is now a feature of this region. Traditional recipes and family methods are used to create superb breads, cheeses, pickled onions and gherkins, sauces and mustards, smoked meats, condiments and more. Mettwurst, Liverwurst, and other German styles of smoked and preserved meats and baked goods permeate the Barossa Valley.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that many traditional Barossa dishes have fermentation processes - no wonder, given that it's wine country too! Cakes made from yeast dough like Streuselkuchen with its crumbly mix of flour, butter, sugar and spices, are staples. I loved the Bienenstich, which has a similar yeast base and a topping of caramel scattered with slivered almonds. These are meant to look like beestings, and hence the name! Berlin buns are made from the same dough, with jam in the middle, fried then rolled in sugar - like a doughnut without the hole.
Another local fermented food is the pickled cucumber or gherkin.
Indeed, such are the culinary joys of the region; I would recommend everyone to incorporate a visit to a Farmers' Market, preferably during the weekend. These are the perfect places to sample and buy fresh local produce, at great prices. And they are the perfect place to get a taste of local life as well.