Gomersal Wines

I first experienced Gomersal Wines when I hosted a 25-year service dinner for Adelaide Brighton Cement (now Adbri) employees from Angaston, Birkenhead and Klein Point. Whilst the wines that we provided were the entry-level wines they were all fantastic.

I decided to head back and taste the full range one weekend and was blown away by the quality.

The 2010 Reserve Shiraz that had picked up a gold medal at the prestigious London International Wine Challenge 2014, the 2008 GSM and the 2015 Eden Valley Riesling were standouts and they were some of the first ones that I listed on the Barossa Reserve website. The owner, Barry White, was very generous with his time taking me through the range and letting me list his best.

Gomersal Wines kicked off in 2000, when a group of characters who share a passion for both the production and consumption of wine, joined forces to breathe life back into an old, run-down Barossa winery in the small western district of Gomersal.

Led by Barry (‘Baz’ to those who know him) and Gabriela White, the winery, now known as Gomersal Wines, was resurrected with the establishment of a new vineyard in 2001, the opening of a new cellar door in 2005, and function room in 2006, and of course, production of a range of quality wines.

The vineyard that produced the fruit for the GSM, just across the road from the cellar door, consisting of 42 acres of Shiraz, and 8 acres of Grenache and Mataro supplies the winery with rich quality fruit with which to make their wines. Their unique cellar door is a true Australian experience, with eucalyptus trees and native plants throughout the grounds, magnificent red gum tables and pink gum bar, and truly Australian artwork covering the walls. Their function room, ‘The Barrel Room’ provides a wonderful and versatile setting for functions of all styles, including weddings, birthdays, conferences, launches, and art exhibitions.

Their vineyards are largely located along Lyndoch Road on the northwestern ridge of the Barossa Valley. The vineyards have east-west slopes with predominantly north-south rows, and bush vines growth east-west on a south-facing slope. The range of soils at Gomersal quite interesting as they vary dramatically throughout the vineyard. They begin with clay over calcrete and slate bedrock, moving to more weathered slate at the bottom of an ancient glacier. Over the hill the soils are deep, sandy loam and black clays. This variety in soil types creates some excellent subtle flavours in the grapes, which come through in the wines. The soils are up to 20 million years old.

This winery is the second most winery along Gomersal Road as you enter into the Barossa Valley using that path and is a great first, or second, starting point on a day of wine tasting in the valley.