Dutschke Winery - Australia

I am very glad to add Dutschke Winery to our website however I have to admit that their name is so hard to spell and type. 

You can read more about the winery by going to: www.dutschkewines.com or you can e-mail Brenda Dutschke for personal attention.

Brenda has sent me a number of great tasting notes on the current releases that I am sure you will want to read.  I have posted those notes on the right hand sidebar. Their wines are distributed in the US and I would contact Joshua Tree Imports to get the name of the retailer in your area that will be able to sell you some of their limited edition wines.

One of their wines in their portfolio is the Oscar Semmler Shiraz, which if you read the story below, is named after a very important figure in the winery's history.

The Brief History of Dutschke Winery

Once upon a time around the end of the 19th century, this 72 acre patch of real estate included only a few acres of vineyard, with most of the area being dedicated to cropping and dairy cattle. At the start of the 1930's Oscar Semmler, Wayne's grandfather bought the block and more vineyard was planted, but it remained primarily a grazing area for dairy purposes.

Oscar's Dad referred to the dirt as a "wonder of creation", a fact borne out by the wine now coming from it. The vineyard of that time, while reflecting the fortified market of the day, did not predict the potential to produce the rich varietal flavors found in current production.

Oscar's son Ken returned to the Barossa Valley in the early 1970's after first spreading his wings as a fighter pilot with the RAAF, dodging anti-aircraft fire above the jungles of Vietnam. Then in 1975, the transition began with Ken starting the planting of the beloved Shiraz, and it is this first area of Shiraz which provides the precious component of Dutschke Wines.

Currently forty five acres are planted with Shiraz making up one third of that area, the balance including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay. Most of the fruit gets passed onto other Barossa winemakers.

It's rather fascinating to note that all varieties have performed well, both in an analytic sense and the all important consumer taste test!

In 1990 Ken and Wayne decided to keep some of these grapes for themselves and start producing wine of their own from this vineyard under the brand "WillowBend". Production never intended to be a big time operation, with the bulk of the fruit each year being delivered to the Krondorf and Mildara Blass Winemakers.

Then with the 1998 vintage release, interest from the US led to the name being changed to Dutschke Wines and production for future vintages was revved up to support this market and many others to follow, not to mention an increasing number of thirsty mail order customers!

Dutschke Newsletters - Read Past Issues

• December 2006 Newsletter
• December 2005 Newsletter
• December 2004 Newsletter