The Turkey Flat vineyards and winery are now situated on the historic Section One property in the centre of the Barossa. The Schulz family became owners of the Turkey Flat property in around 1865 and while they continued to tend the ancient vineyard, they also developed a thriving butchers business.

The Turkey Flat Vineyard boasts some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world. Planted in 1847, these hard-working gnarled old vines are still producing fantastic grapes. They are dry grown with their roots extending metres into the soil in search of moisture. Much of the credit for the best Shiraz made in the Barossa is due to old vines such as these. The fact that these vines still exist is largely due to a far-sighted quarantine scheme, in which South Australia was spared the phylloxera outbreak which devastated the vineyards of Europe, America and subsequently parts of Australia in the late 1800’s.

You don’t see wines with bubble-gum oak quite this overt, all that often. This tastes of blueberry and vanilla, pink marshmallows, raspberry and darker, more broody, roasted plum flavours. It’s seductive in a way, courtesy of its smoothness but also of its bold, ripe, luscious fruit. It also carries (very) fine-grained tannin, which allows the fruit and oak to sail through the finish with barely a ripple. Date: July 2026; Alcohol: 14.5%; Price: $55; Closure: Screwcap; Drink: 2028-2036; Rated: 93 Points; Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front