- Local Loves
What the locals are loving: Chaffey Bros Wine Co.
Head to Tanunda in the Barossa to visit the collaborative cellar door of innovative and award-winning winemakers Chaffey Bros.
If you love great wine, good food and the great outdoors, Tanunda, SA – just 70km from Adelaide and right in the centre of the Barossa region – may be the perfect weekend getaway. This month, you could take in the Barossa Vintage Festival, or simply seize your chance to taste wines from New Wave Barossa winemakers and 2023 Best of Wine award winners Chaffey Bros at the Artisans of Barossa cellar door.
The Chaffey Bros story
The original Chaffey Bros, William and George Chaffey, arrived in Australia from Canada in 1886 and started the first winery in the Sunraysia region. Well over a century later, George’s great-great-nephew Dan Chaffey Hartwig founded Chaffey Bros Wine Co. in 2008, bringing together his family history with the interest in winemaking he had nurtured growing up in the Barossa. Later, Dan’s brother-in-law Theo Engela joined the business and together the pair take pride in handcrafting wines with minimal-intervention techniques.
The certified-sustainable wine company has a hyper-local supply chain and uses vineyard practices that are both certified and uncertified organic. Water-wise moves include growing drought-proof grenache and mourvèdre grapes, using rainwater throughout and ensuring waste water and grape stems are reused in surrounding farms. The wines are not filtered or fined, so they’re also vegan- and vegetarian-friendly. With all this, plus a dedication to celebrating old-vine Barossa grapes and the families that grow them – each wine label bears the GPS coordinates of its origins – it’s clear Chaffey Bros is not your average winery.
The Chaffey Bros cellar door
Ready to taste some small-batch Chaffey Bros wines? Take your seat at the collaborative Artisans of Barossa cellar door in Tanunda. “Artisans of Barossa was originally a collective of 12 families, and when we joined (about three years ago) we brought our lighter style of wines to the mix,” Dan says. The families all share a love of making wines from small-batch vineyards and celebrating and preserving the history of the Barossa vines, many of which are over 150 years old.
Artisans of Barossa includes two restaurants, Essen and Delikatessen, both offering delicious food to match the cellar door experience. “We wanted to embrace the Germanic heritage of the region,” Dan says of the name ‘Essen’. “It means ‘to eat’ in German.” Dishes on Essen’s two or three course lunch menu emphasise local and seasonal ingredients – think seafood and vegetarian starters made with native muntries, fingerlime and Geraldton Wax alongside hearty shared mains such as dry-aged whole duck with honey lavender glaze. Visit Delikatessen for relaxed all-day dining, from Reuben sandwiches to housemade rillettes and Barossa cheeses.
Try these Chaffey Bros wines
Discover why these wines earned their praise in the 2023 Best of Wine awards.
Chaffey Bros Dufte Punkt White Typical of Chaffey Bros’ clever blending, this wine has notes of tropical fruits, lychees and mandarins, with a clean mineral finish. Judge Oliver Francis praised its complexity, texture, balance and clarity of flavour. Winner, Best White $25 and Under (Bolder Varietals)
Chaffey Bros Not Your Grandma’s Rosé Expect fragrant raspberry and strawberry notes mixed with darker and deeper musk and spice. Finalist, Best Rosé
Chaffey Bros Not Your Grandma’s Riesling With a perfectly balanced acidity, discover notes of citrus and sweet stone fruits that can be enjoyed alone or with food. Finalist, Best White $25 and Under (Lighter Varietals)
Products featured are available from 12/04/23 to 16/05/23, while stocks last. Some products or varieties featured may not be available in all stores.
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