Château Tanunda marked the beginning of the Barossa Valley 2025 vintage this week, with the entire estate team gathering at the winery and cellar door for its annual ringing of the bell ceremony.
As the family winery embarks on its 135th anniversary in 2025, the ceremony upholds a tradition that dates back to Château Tanunda’s early days. With the whole team together, the winemaking team also provided an overview of the incoming vintage conditions.
Senior Winemaker Jeremy Ottawa will lead the winemaking team for the first time after the departure of Chief Winemaker Neville Rowe in November last year. While he noted that it is an early vintage, he also highlighted the potential to produce exceptional fruit.
“This year’s vintage is three weeks earlier than average and will be a compressed edition with the reds and whites coming in simultaneously. We will be spending a lot of time amongst our vineyards to select the best fruit at their optimal picking perfection. We expect the berries to be small and the flavour intensity high.
“As a winemaker, vintage is the most exciting time of year for the unique challenges and opportunities nature presents us with year after year to make the best wine we can – if every vintage was the same none of us would do it.
“Vintage here at Château Tanunda is like walking within the halls of Barossa winemaking fame. Today, it’s equipped with all the latest winemaking tools to allow us to craft some of the best wines in the estate’s long and proud winemaking history,” he stated.
Heading into a milestone year for the winery, Managing Director Michelle Geber expressed her commitment to honouring Château Tanunda’s rich heritage while embracing its future.
“Château Tanunda has been historically strong in exports, and during this year in our 135th anniversary we are particularly focused on building the winery here at home, especially with our world-renowned Grand Barossa wines which are currently experiencing strong double digit growth in Australia.
“We remain committed to showcasing the excellence of Australia’s ultra-premium wines and sharing the Barossa’s unique old vine heritage with a wider audience through immersive tastings and storytelling at our Barossa and Sydney cellar doors,” she continued.