South Australia’s Château Tanunda is one of the country's most historically significant wineries – often recognised as the birthplace of Barossa winemaking. A focus on hand-crafted production and old vine expression has solidified the brand's wines as some of the region's most coveted. In its 130th year, Château Tanunda has released its 2020 collection, a limited-release series of rare and collectable vintages from some of the oldest vineyards in the world.
Privately owned by the Geber family, the Château is headed by Chief Winemaker, Neville Rowe. “As a winemaker, this is one of the most exciting parts of my role,” says Neville. “The 2020 collection wines are some of the finest to date – the 150 Year Old Vines Semillon and Field Blend have been producing great wines for a century and a half. It is a pleasure of to be the custodian of these great vineyard sites.”
Neville and the broader Château Tanunda winemaking team have a focus on minimal intervention techniques that represent the brands dedication to varietal expression. “Our limited release wines are hand-picked, basket-pressed and bottled unfiltered to allow the true character of the grapes to express themselves,” says proprietor, John Geber. “The vineyards are our soul; the basket-press winery is our heart; the wines are our passion; everything is finely tuned to produce delicious, distinctive and elegant wines.”
2017 Château Tanunda 100 Year Old Vines Shiraz
The low-yielding ‘Centenarian’ vines that produced this shiraz are noted for their intensity of flavour and were planted more than a century ago – around the time construction of Château Tanunda itself began. The select parcels are hand-picked and fermented in small open fermenters with hand plunging four times daily before careful basket pressing to more gently extract tannin and colour.
RRP $160 | Drink to 2035
2018 Château Tanunda Terroirs of the Barossa ‘Ebenezer District’ Shiraz
This is the 10th vintage of this wine from the Ebenezer District, an area famous for its elegant and structured style of shiraz. Shiraz wines from this region are typically characterised by lifted aromas of lavender and spice. The palate is full of red fruits, leather, cedar and fine, talc-like tannins.
RRP $60 | Drink to 2032
This article was produced in partnership with the featured winery.
Pictured right to left: Managing Director Michelle Geber, proprietor John Geber and Chief Winemaker Neville Rowe.
Privately owned by the Geber family, the Château is headed by Chief Winemaker, Neville Rowe. “As a winemaker, this is one of the most exciting parts of my role,” says Neville. “The 2020 collection wines are some of the finest to date – the 150 Year Old Vines Semillon and Field Blend have been producing great wines for a century and a half. It is a pleasure of to be the custodian of these great vineyard sites.”
Neville and the broader Château Tanunda winemaking team have a focus on minimal intervention techniques that represent the brands dedication to varietal expression. “Our limited release wines are hand-picked, basket-pressed and bottled unfiltered to allow the true character of the grapes to express themselves,” says proprietor, John Geber. “The vineyards are our soul; the basket-press winery is our heart; the wines are our passion; everything is finely tuned to produce delicious, distinctive and elegant wines.”
Discover two standout styles from the 2020 Signature Collection below:
2017 Château Tanunda 100 Year Old Vines ShirazThe low-yielding ‘Centenarian’ vines that produced this shiraz are noted for their intensity of flavour and were planted more than a century ago – around the time construction of Château Tanunda itself began. The select parcels are hand-picked and fermented in small open fermenters with hand plunging four times daily before careful basket pressing to more gently extract tannin and colour.
RRP $160 | Drink to 2035
2018 Château Tanunda Terroirs of the Barossa ‘Ebenezer District’ Shiraz
This is the 10th vintage of this wine from the Ebenezer District, an area famous for its elegant and structured style of shiraz. Shiraz wines from this region are typically characterised by lifted aromas of lavender and spice. The palate is full of red fruits, leather, cedar and fine, talc-like tannins.
RRP $60 | Drink to 2032
Click here to shop the full range of Chateau Tanunda's 2020 collection.
This article was produced in partnership with the featured winery.
