Langhorne Creek deserves more fame than it gets. It is the forgotten gem of Australian wine. Its reputation hides behind the big brother regions Barossa and McLaren Vale. The region deserves better.
Occasionally it burst through to prominence. Langhorne Creek grapes provided the base for Jimmy Watson Tophy wins by the Wolf Blass Dry Red Clarets in 1973, 1974 and 1975. For a while back then Stonyfell Metala was one of the country’s most acclaimed reds.
But the fate of that famous label illustrates Langhorne Creek’s fluctuating fortunes.
The original Stonyfell Metala brand changed hands many times over the years. It eventually ending up in the stable of Australia’s largest wine company Treasury Wine Estates alongside the likes of Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Wynns and Saltram.
Treasury kept making a Metala branded wine but stopped using grapes grown in the original Metala vineyard in 2017.
In that year the company told the grower that they were going to make the brand multi-regional and they stopped taking fruit from Metala.“They kept using our story and our history but the fruit was coming from wherever” explains vineyard owner managing director Guy Adams.
Returning home
Earlier this year the founding family bought the Metala brand and associated trademarks from Treasury.
“The homecoming and relaunch of the brand means that when wine lovers buy a bottle of Metala wine they will once again be getting the original, rich and full bodied Metala fruit they’ve come to expect” Adams told the InDaily website.
“My family has been growing grapes since 1891 and those vines still grow today on the property. So it’s fantastic news and it’s really made me proud to be able to get it back in our control.
“People will still recognise the traditional Metala label but we need to get the younger generation to start consuming it …
“It’s been going as long as Grange has been going. And it’s got a real following with the older generation but we’re a dying generation.”
Glug is proving Langhorne Creek deserves more fame than it gets
Bleasdale Wines bringing the 2019 Jimmy Watson Trophy back to Langhorne Creek is proof again of the region’s fruit quality. And at Glug we are delighted with the Albion Hills Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2021. Complex flavours and great density of colour. Appealing in its youth it will go on to develop for the next five years.
An absolute knockout. And because the Langhorne Creek revival is still just getting under way, a bargain priced $14.80 a bottle. Try it and be convinced that Lsnghorne Creek deserves more fame than it gets.
