There's no business like wine business.....

Wine Business Magazine's Top 100 regional focus this month was on the Barossa, or more specifically small wineries from the Barossa. A new group has been formed recently - the Barossa Small Winemakers Group - and we are one of about 70 wineries involved with the group. It is certainly an interesting mix from the sub-regional aspect. When you attend a BSWG meeting you have the opportunity to see and taste the fantastic standard of wines and quickly realise that our combined produce is something that we should all be very proud of.

We were most fortunate to be included in an editorial in the current edition (March 2009) of WBM's Top 100 - a magazine primarily for the trade sector of the wine industry.

Here is what the editorial said in regards to Karra Yerta:
Family Affair: "History and heritage surrounds the families in the Barossa, just as it does the vines.
James and Marie Linke of Karra Yerta Wines both originally hail from Angaston but have lived in Flaxman's Valley since 1985.
Their ancestors, the Linke and Pohlner families, arrived at Port Misery (Port Adelaide) in 1847. The Pohlners, early pioneers of Flaxman's Valley, were the third largest landholders in the area in the 1900's. In 1910 Charlie Pohlner still owned between 4,000 and 7,000 acres, but over time the land was broken up and sold off (or divided up due to marriages) to other now well-known families in the area: Argent, Randall, Zander and Thorn. The precious old, dry-grown Flaxman's Valley vineyard that produces their Eden Valley Riesling and Shiraz is situated on a high ridge in Randall-Town, neighbouring the vineyards of Chris Ringland and Greg Hobbs. All three vineyards were planted by the Randall families in the early 1900's. The restoration of the Karra Yerta vineyard is an ongoing venture, currently consisting of 50 year old Frontignac, 80 year old Riesling, 80 year old Semillon, 50+ year old Shiraz and 10 year old shiraz. This small family business grew from a ten-year hobby and annual production is just around 350 cases."

Click on the group photo below (I'm in the foreground at far right:) to have a closer look at which wineries were involved. To read the main articles on the Barossa, and for all of the small wineries contact details, buy a copy of the March edition of WBM. For information specific to the BSWG phone Jan Angas on 0414639088.