Barossa Old Vine Charter

English shipping merchant George Fife Angas supported the migration of free settlers, including a group of Silesian Lutherans led by Pastor August Kavel in 1842, who established themselves in Bethany. South Australia's strict quarantine policies are credited with protecting the region's vines from the phylloxera outbreak that wiped out 90% of European vineyards in the 19th century, and some Barossa vineyards date back to 1843. In the 1980s, in response to a grape oversupply, the South Australian Government introduced the Vine Pull Scheme, offering payments to growers who removed unproductive vines; the unintended consequence was the loss of century-old Shiraz and Grenache plantings. In the same decade, St Hallett, Rockford, Bethany, Grant Burge, Charles Melton, Heritage, Willows Vineyard and Elderton were among the wineries that opened cellar doors, following Peter Lehmann's lead, and their success revitalised demand for old-vine fruit. The Charter was pioneered by the Yalumba Wine Company, which created its own Old Vine Charter in 2007 to improve clarity and honesty in wine labelling. In 2009 it was built on and rolled out regionally, evolving into an industry-recognised Charter with the help of the Barossa Grape & Wine Association.

• Pastor August Kavel led a group of Silesian Lutherans to Barossa in 1842, a migration supported by George Fife Angas
• The South Australian Government's 1980s Vine Pull Scheme, introduced in response to a grape oversupply, led to the loss of century-old Shiraz and Grenache plantings
• From 2007 onward, any Yalumba wine using 'Old Vine' nomenclature, on a front label, back label, or in supporting documents or descriptions, complies with the Yalumba Old Vine Charter
• Yalumba's Charter was ten years in the making and was formalised in part to encourage regions to start a register of vine planting by vineyard and variety

The Barossa Valley region lies north-east of the city of Adelaide, with warm grape-growing areas on the valley floor and cooler meso-climates at higher altitudes in the surrounding hills. The Barossa Valley Regional Snapshot 2025-26 gives the region's altitude as 112-596m and its growing season rainfall as 220mm. Many old vines in Barossa are dry grown (without irrigation) because they are on deep soil, while vineyards on shallower soils often require irrigation. Ancestor vines tend to be dry-grown, low-yielding vines, and Centenarian vines were planted generations ago, when dry-farming techniques required careful site selection. The Charter's examples reach beyond the valley floor to Eden Valley wines including Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz and Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling.

• Warm grape-growing areas on the valley floor and cooler meso-climates at higher altitudes in the surrounding hills
• Altitude 112-596m and growing season rainfall 220mm for the Barossa Valley region (Regional Snapshot 2025-26)
• Many old vines are dry grown on deep soil; vineyards on shallower soils often require irrigation
• The soils at Henschke's Hill of Grace Vineyard are thick, red, clay-rich loams overlain by a veneer of brown, fine, sandy-to-silty loam

Barossa is home to some of the world's oldest continuously producing vines, among them Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, Riesling and Mataro, some of which date back to the area's settlement in the early 1840s. Old vines often produce extremely low yields, and while vine age is often seen as an indicator of wine quality, it is not a prerequisite. The evidence is mostly anecdotal, but grapes from older vines typically have higher acid and lower pH and can produce wines with greater depth. Shiraz occupies 50% of the vineyard plantings, and the Barossa has some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world, dating back to 1843.

• Chateau Tanunda 150 Year Old Vine Semillon is among the Charter's Ancestor examples
• Centenarian examples include Jacob's Creek 1922 Block 2 Riesling and Saltram Wines Semillon from a 1921 planting at Zerk Farm, Lyndoch
• Old vines often produce extremely low yields, and vine age is not a prerequisite for quality
• Shiraz occupies 50% of Barossa Valley vineyard plantings, and some Barossa Shiraz vines date back to 1843

The Charter's Ancestor examples include Cirillo Estate 1850 Grenache; Hewitson Old Garden Mourvèdre from the Koch Family Pilgrim Vineyard (1853); Langmeil The Freedom 1843 Shiraz; Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz; Penfolds Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon; Poonawatta Estate The 1880 Shiraz; Chateau Tanunda 150 Year Old Vine Semillon; Elderton Command Single Vineyard Shiraz; Turkey Flat The Ancestor Shiraz; Yalumba The Tri-Centenary Grenache, planted 1889; and Purple Hands Planta Circa Ancestor Vine, from the Caiazza Family's vineyard, originally the 'Woodlands' PF Zimmermann Vineyard, planted 1885. In the words of Marco Cirillo of Cirillo Wines: “Our old vineyard was planted by the Graetz family in 1848 and is the oldest continuously producing Grenache vineyard in the world.” The oldest vines on Henschke's Hill of Grace Vineyard, known as the Grandfathers, were planted circa 1860s by Nicolaus Stanitzki; they are dry-grown and more than 155 years of age, and Cyril Henschke created the first Hill of Grace in 1958. Penfolds' 2004 Block 42 tasting note presents the 10-acre Block 42 at its Kalimna Vineyard as comprising “the oldest plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon continuously produced in the world”. Yalumba The Octavius Shiraz includes Centenarian grapes sourced from vines planted in 1908 and 1854.

• Langmeil The Freedom 1843 Shiraz, Turkey Flat The Ancestor Shiraz and Elderton Command Single Vineyard Shiraz are among the Charter's Ancestor examples
• Centenarian examples include Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz, Yalumba The Steeple Shiraz (planted 1919) and St Hugo Koch Shiraz from the Koch Family Vineyard (1921)
• Survivor examples include Kalleske Old Vine Grenache, Hewitson 3 Corner Grenache (Koch Family Pilgrim Vineyard, 1925) and Saltram Old Vine Grenache (1935)
• Old Vine examples include Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling (Eden Valley, 1965), Pewsey Vale 1961 Block Riesling and Kurtz Family Vineyard Lunar Block (1969)

The Charter classifies old vines by age into four categories. A Barossa Old Vine is equal or greater than 35 years of age, a Barossa Survivor Vine equal or greater than 70 years of age, a Barossa Centenarian Vine equal or greater than 100 years of age, and a Barossa Ancestor Vine equal or greater than 125 years of age. Wine Australia's guide calls Centenarian Vines pre-phylloxera vines, and Ancestor Vines are thought to be among the oldest producing vines in the world. Yalumba's own charter gives alternative names for three of the tiers: a Survivor Vine is also known as a Very Old Vine, a Centenarian Vine as an Exceptionally Old Vine, and an Ancestor Vine as a Very Bloody Exceptionally Old Vine. Until recently Australia had no definition prescribing what factors must be met to label an 'old vine' as such. In Yalumba's view, in the absence of a nationwide standard for terms like 'old', producers can make arbitrary, conflicting and potentially misleading claims.

• Barossa Old Vine: equal or greater than 35 years of age
• Barossa Survivor Vine: equal or greater than 70 years of age; Yalumba also calls it a Very Old Vine
• Barossa Centenarian Vine: equal or greater than 100 years of age; Wine Australia classes Centenarian Vines as pre-phylloxera vines
• Barossa Ancestor Vine: equal or greater than 125 years of age

Barossa Australia frames the Charter's tiers in heritage terms: an Ancestor vine is “a living tribute to the early European settlers of Barossa”, and a Survivor vine “pays homage to the resolute commitment of those growers and winemakers who value the quality and structure of old vine wines”. Robert O’Callaghan of Rockford Wines puts it this way: “We were the first to acknowledge that these old Shiraz vineyards were a rare and valuable resource in the Barossa, something that we should value and protect.” The 1990s saw a return to traditional techniques such as basket presses and open fermenters, with Barossa celebrating the provenance of old vines. The Barossa Vine Improvement initiative makes selections ('Heritage' clones) from old vines, particularly Shiraz and Riesling, and at Hill of Grace Henschke carried out mass selection over three growing seasons from 1986 and established a nursery source block in 1989.

• Barossa Australia calls Ancestor vines a living tribute to the early European settlers of Barossa
• The Barossa Vine Improvement initiative makes 'Heritage' clone selections from old vines, particularly Shiraz and Riesling
• Henschke established a nursery source block at Hill of Grace in 1989, and in 2001 created Hill of Roses from the nursery shiraz vines
• Marco Cirillo of Cirillo Wines: “They are not good because they are old, they are old because they’re good.”

Primary sources (Barossa Australia, Wine Australia, the Australian Wine Research Institute, and producers' own sites for their own vineyards and wines): https://www.barossa.com/wine/vineyards/old-vine-charter/, https://www.yalumba.com/old-vine-charter/, https://www.wineaustralia.com/market-insights/regions-and-varieties/south-australia-wines/barossa, https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/viticulture/pests-and-diseases/phylloxera/, https://www.wineaustralia.com/getmedia/d10198e8-c79a-495f-b937-d9f163bef80a/AWD_Barossa_FacilitatorGuide_1.pdf?ext=.pdf, https://www.henschke.com.au/pages/hill-of-grace-vineyard, https://www.penfolds.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-PenfoldsSharedLibrary/default/dw8c9aaee6/2-Documents/Tasting_Notes/Special_Bins/Block_42_Kalimna_Cabernet/Penfolds_Special_Bins_Block_42_Kalimna_Cabernet_Sauvignon_2004.pdf, https://www.barossa.com/about/history/. Secondary: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/yalumba-old-vines-must-be-at-least-35-87256/. Last verified 2026-10-05