Rolf Binder

I read with interest the recent article on Rolf Binder and Christa Deans in Barossa Living. The brother and sister wine making team have been making wine together for 20 vintages now. Rolf looks after the reds and Chrisa the whites. Founded as Veritas in 1955 they now trade under Rolf Binder although the Veritas name remains by the main entrance.

The cellar door is easily accessible for prams as the sign indicates and inside they are fantastically well set up for families, with a play area adjacent to the tasting bar. For the duration of my visit a little girl played happily with her granny, meaning her lucky parents could take their time over the tasting. I on the other hand had two sleeping children in the car with my patient husband so I felt I needed to be slightly quicker!

They do charge a $5 tasting fee but this is redeemable against purchase and once you've tasted their wines its very easy to find one (or more) that tempts. "Whilst Barossa reds are known to be big and bold, Rolf aims to draw out the elegance and finesse of the grape (Shiraz and Mataro) within this genre". Christa aims to bring "a delicate touch to produce such rich and flavoursome, yet delicate white wines".

I tried the whites, enjoying both the riesling and sauvignon blanc, I explained that I was not such a chardonnay fan, but was assured I would find the RB one much less oaky and lighter, which I did. Moving on to the reds I tasted the signature reds 'the Veritas Bulls Blood' and 'Heinrich' which interestingly is an SMG blend rather than the traditional Barossa GSM (this is because it's 55% Shiraz, 25% Mataro, 20% Grenache). I left with a bottle of the 2010 Veritas Petit Syrah, a deeply coloured and delicious red. At $25 I thought this was fantastic value. 

Cnr Seppeltsfield Road/ Stelzer Road, Tanunda, SA5352

Tel (08) 8562 3300

www.rolfbinder.com

James Halliday 5 star winery