Wine
Chateau Tanunda Holy Ground
For over 130 years, Château Tanunda has been an icon of the Barossa, famous for translating the terroir of this world-renowned region into wines of global appeal.
Fom their Old Vine Expressions to their Single Vineyard and Grand Barossa ranges, Château Tanunda have always been a quintessentially Barossan winery.
However, while the Château Tanunda team are whole-hearted Barossa champions, they also acknowledge the incredible potential of other regions around Australia. That’s why, a couple of vintages ago, they took the bold step of creating a new tradition in the Parishes range. In this stunning line-up, they’ve left their home region to source fruit from South Australian regions of Langhorne Creek, Coonawarra, and the Limestone Coast.
The meaning behind the name of this modern range comes from a tradition born in the early days of the Australian wine industry. When a village was established, it had a church at its heart and vineyards were developed in the surrounding area. The name Parishes therefore pays homage to the vineyard area and unique terroir of the parishes of a particular region.
Today, the regions of Langhorne Creek, Coonawarra and Padthaway are home to some of the country’s finest vineyards, tended by dedicated characters who strive to bring the distinct nuances of their particular site to life in the glass. This shines in the Parishes wines, whose flavours are as captivating as the grape-growing communities from which they hail.
Château Tanunda's Michelle Geber in the vineyard.
Picks of the parishes
One of the exciting challenges of taking over an historic name like Château Tanunda is respecting and honouring its long history, while also keeping the wine styles contemporary.
Although Château Tanunda achieves this across its portfolio, it’s an approach that’s really on show in the Parishes range. You might seek out classic styles from Château Tanunda’s other collections, but if you’re looking for a unique tasting experience, Parishes delivers. As the winery’s Managing Director, Michelle Geber explains, “We’ve carefully selected and crafted Parishes wines for consumers looking to try different styles of wines for different occasions – lively, plush, delicious wines.”
The 2019 Parishes Shiraz – one of Wine Selectors’ Top 50 Wines of 2021 – is a result of careful blending of the finest fruit from the Langhorne Creek and Barossa regions. The flavours from these distinct ‘parishes’ are beautifully complementary, not to mention exquisitely full-bodied – from blueberry and dark chocolate to spice.
It’s pure Langhorne Creek on show in the Parishes Merlot 2019. With a winemaking culture alive with multi-generational wine families dating back to the 1860s, Langhorne Creek is home to vineyards dotting its river delta landscape. In this succulent Merlot, the rich fruit creates opulent flavours of forest fruit with floral notes and fine-grained tannins.
While the Barossa is Australia’s number one region for Shiraz, it’s Coonawarra for Cabernet, so when Château Tanunda sought to create a blend of the two for the Parishes range, it was these two regions it naturally chose. A seamless meld of blackberry, mulberry and plum from the Cabernet and ripe blue and red berries from the Shiraz, the 2018 vintage issimply divine.
The Padthaway region on the Limestone Coast enjoys a maritime climate with beautiful terra rossa soils. What better choice for Malbec, a grape that loves moderate climes? The perfumed Parishes 2021 vintage is plush and velvety with lovely blue and black fruits and hints of chocolate – delicious.
So keep an eye out for the Parishes range. You’ll recognise it for its chic label; elegant yet modern, opening a new chapter in the Château Tanunda story, conveying the marriage of tradition and trendsetting with its bold take on an historic concept... and wines so good they’re almost sinful.