One particular visit brought everything into sharp focus, and it was at Chris Ringland where I truly understood the greatness held within the soils and vines of this incredible region.

We met with Nathan Burley, front of house for Chris Ringland, who took us through a flight of 9 wines ranging from $1000+ to $150. In all honesty, I was a little worried about this one as I kept hearing the echoes of “woke” wine people, snickering at the thought of drinking monster wines with 18% alcohol, which some of these had, but those echoes were silenced the very moment I had my first sip.

Despite having high levels of alcohol, the wines were majestic, pleasurable and utterly delicious expressions of Shiraz with balance, power and an almost heavenly core of rich, decadent fruit that stole your attention. They were big but not jammy, nor monstrous. This was Barossan shiraz at its highest level.

While I sipped in awe, I found it easy to understand why the likes of world renown wine critic Robert Parker (and others) look so favourably upon these wines. They are unlike any other Shiraz made in the world and they are Barossan through and through.

Many other wines of the region did the same job at celeb rating the region at the highest level, but angle their expressions a little differently.

The wines of Standish stood out for their precision, energy, vertical layers of complexity and tightly focused fruit that drives with freshness and length.

Rockford mastered the art of blending, ensuring their wines have impeccable balance and drinkability upon release (and into the future), all the while delivering complex and uniquely Barossan expressions.

Henschke wines have great clarity and restraint, holding fruit intensity, energy and terroir within a naturally fine, yet tense structure that are made to last.

Sami Odi creates unique bottles of Shiraz that speak just as loudly of its vines as it does its maker and offers expressions of vintages never to be repeated.

Travis Earth brings the complexity and beauty out of Barossan Mataro, proving how incredibly delicious and complex it can be in the right hands.

The solid, diverse and delicious wines from the makers within the Artisans of the Barossa banner show the incredible value that can come out of this region from independent wineries that care deeply about quality.