Whoa, this place is big! The turreted, château-like main building is a Barossa architectural icon, built in 1880 from bluestone quarried at nearby Bethany. It was South Australia’s second-largest building at the time (after a Port Adelaide wool store), and by 1892 was pumping out 200,000 gallons of vino a year. The Seppelt family (local wine royalty) bought the winery during WWI, but by 1998 it had become a crumbling ruin. Cue wandering South African winemaker John Geber, who happened to be cycling past and bought the place on spec.
But enough history. A couple of decades (and many millions) later, Château Tanunda is back in the game, bottling up affordable wines that deliver boundless Barossa single-vineyard authenticity. At the top of the tree, hundred-year-old vines (some of them 150!) contribute to the ‘Everest’ range of fine semillon, shiraz and grenache. Tours and tasting are predictably numerous: start your visit with an 'Old Vine Expressions Tasting Experience’ ($50), then head for the croquet lawns.
