Langmeil Village - the hidden gem of the Barossa Valley
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Visitors to the Barossa Valley think of - or are guided to - places like the iconic Seppeltsfield Winery with its rich history and superb recent upgrade. Seppeltsfield is definitely worth a visit, but it’s a winery and cellar door on a grand (or should we say) ...large...scale. Such was Benno Seppelt’s vision for his winery, way back then.
...But for wine aficionados and those who appreciate history, there is another part of the Barossa which might be described as a forgotten - or, to date, under-appreciated - gem within the wine and tourism firmament of the Barossa Valley. We are talking of the region known as Langmeil - an area now consumed within the greater Tanunda metropolis - but which was the very cornerstone of Silesian and Lutheran settlement of the Valley and which was the genesis of the Barossa as we know it today. Along with Bethany, that small hamlet to the west of Tanunda, Langmeil was the first Barossa village established by those new immigrants who escaped ‘Persecution to Freedom’. |
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Led by Pastor Johann Christian Auricht, Langmeil Village was established - Christian himself being not only a leader of his community but as the blacksmith of the Village. ‘Langmeil’ - or in English, the ‘long mile’ - bordered the area’s only reliable water source, today known as the ‘North Para’ river. The village would go on to include a baker, a butcher, a cobbler and others whose efforts spawned the beginning of the Barossa Valley as we know it today.
Langmeil Village still exists today, and tourists can visit the very blacksmith’s forge on which Johann Christian Auricht pounded out the Barossa’s future... and see the historic buildings which were the crucible of the Barossa.
Langmeil Winery is not only today’s custodian of the Langmeil Village but also presides over the oldest stand of Shiraz vines known to exist in the world. (This is a big statement, but provable). Visitors can not only taste and purchase wine from those vines (known as the Langmeil Freedom Shiraz), but on invitation or via regular organised paid visits to Langmeil Wines’ new underground cellar (once the Village’s indispensable buried water tank) can be taken back to the very beginnings of the Barossa, its history, and its superb wines.
Take the time to look at our Gallery of the Langmeil Village and Langmeil Wines (above) - and on your visit to the Barossa, make a point of calling in.
To whet your appetite, listen to our 9 minute Podcast with Jonathon Bitter, Langmeil’s Cellar Master, who explains the history of Langmeil Village and the Winery - and ends with the bells of Langmeil’s historic Lutheran Church.
This is part of the Barossa’s history - and its wine heritage - that you just can’t miss.
Langmeil Village still exists today, and tourists can visit the very blacksmith’s forge on which Johann Christian Auricht pounded out the Barossa’s future... and see the historic buildings which were the crucible of the Barossa.
Langmeil Winery is not only today’s custodian of the Langmeil Village but also presides over the oldest stand of Shiraz vines known to exist in the world. (This is a big statement, but provable). Visitors can not only taste and purchase wine from those vines (known as the Langmeil Freedom Shiraz), but on invitation or via regular organised paid visits to Langmeil Wines’ new underground cellar (once the Village’s indispensable buried water tank) can be taken back to the very beginnings of the Barossa, its history, and its superb wines.
Take the time to look at our Gallery of the Langmeil Village and Langmeil Wines (above) - and on your visit to the Barossa, make a point of calling in.
To whet your appetite, listen to our 9 minute Podcast with Jonathon Bitter, Langmeil’s Cellar Master, who explains the history of Langmeil Village and the Winery - and ends with the bells of Langmeil’s historic Lutheran Church.
This is part of the Barossa’s history - and its wine heritage - that you just can’t miss.
Jacob's Creek Visitors' Centre - a gem re-visited - or a treasure yet to be found?
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A week after Their Royal Highnesses graced the Barossa Valley, Barossa News Online has got to speak with REAL Barossa ‘royalty’, Jacob’s Creek Chief Winemaker, Bernard Hickin - and his ‘heir apparent’, Ben Bryant.
We talked over a glass of Jacobs Creek's superb ‘Signature’ series Shiraz..... you can see more details on our 'news page, by clicking here. ...But while we were there, we looked again at the superb Jacob’s Creek Visitors’ Centre, just to make you jealous of our mid-week interlude. Time for you to get to the Barossa again for a lazy arvo at Jacob’s Creek! Our video runs approx 1min 30secs - best viewed at its current size! |
The FOX'n'FIRKIN - firkin good!
What's wrong here?
Yes! It's the blue skies!
All travellers to Old Blighty (note to juniors: Old Blighty = England) will remember that peculiar rite of passage when, as an Aussie, you enter your first traditional Pommy pub.... squeezing past the narrow front door, amazing at the low ceilings (watch your head!), then stumping up to the well worn bar, and asking for a ‘coldie’.
The barman turns around, pumps a handle on a wooden keg, then places a pint of the local brew in front of you. What is it? It looks like oil from the vintage Jag out the front....it’s warm....and it tastes like....well, you know! No wonder these days they love Fosters!
Returning to Oz, the memory of that old pub lingers on as you pull up a stool at your local with a front bar as big as a cattle ring and where the language is all ‘XXXX’ -- and so is the beer!
You promise yourself when you win the Lottery to go back to that quaint British pub and ask for another pint of Old Speckled Hen - and this time you won’t gag when you taste it.
But wait! You can get the same experience right here in Adelaide - and on one of the best scenic routes to and from the Barossa Valley (wine AND beer! Bliss!)
The barman turns around, pumps a handle on a wooden keg, then places a pint of the local brew in front of you. What is it? It looks like oil from the vintage Jag out the front....it’s warm....and it tastes like....well, you know! No wonder these days they love Fosters!
Returning to Oz, the memory of that old pub lingers on as you pull up a stool at your local with a front bar as big as a cattle ring and where the language is all ‘XXXX’ -- and so is the beer!
You promise yourself when you win the Lottery to go back to that quaint British pub and ask for another pint of Old Speckled Hen - and this time you won’t gag when you taste it.
But wait! You can get the same experience right here in Adelaide - and on one of the best scenic routes to and from the Barossa Valley (wine AND beer! Bliss!)
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Yep, next time you’re on your way to the Barossa - or returning from it, call in at the FOX’n’FIRKIN! Located as it is in an historic building at 1370 North East Road in the historic hamlet of Tea Tree Gully, you could be forgiven if you thought you were at Stowe on the Wold, or Chipping Norton, old chap!
This is as authentic a British pub this side of the Bells of St. Clements as you’ll get....low ceilings decorated with British soccer scarves and jerseys, beer coasters from ‘home’, traditional British beers -- even the locals there on the day we called in all had Cockney accents! The Firkin food is excellent and very well priced too (try the Thai Green Curry!) - and the very friendly staff all sound like expats working their way around Britain! The Tea Tree Gully village around the Fox’n’Firkin is equally historic with 19th Century sandstone buildings as pretty as Painswick (that’s in the Cotswolds, old sauce!) So make a point of calling in at the Fox’n’Firkin as part of your trip to the Barossa (the best of the wursts, then call in to the Rub-a-dub-dub for a George Raft of the Firkin’s Gypsy’s Kiss - but don’t get too Mozart and Liszt or the Ducks and Geese might chuck you in the local Flowery Dell!) |
The Barossa 'cellar door' for kids.....
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There are lots of ‘lolly shops’ in the Barossa for adults -- think cellar door or fine eateries -- but when it comes to the little ones who are often forced patiently to follow mums and dads around in the Barossa, there’s little which the kids can claim as their own ‘cellar door’.
Until now. In the main street of Tanunda, close to the northern ‘arch’, the Rotunda and the supermarket, is the SWEET AS BAROSSA Diner - a colourful magnet for visitors and locals alike. This is no ordinary sweet shop! For old rockers from the 50’s to the 60’s, there’s a lot of nostalgia here to remind them of their own care-free years, as they treat their grandkids to a taste of a gentler era.... And for younger mums and dads, SWEET AS BAROSSA is fast becoming a ‘must stop’ after school, or as a unique birthday spot as their kids are attracted to the magnet of bright colours, funky old-fashioned design - and the delights of the traditional milkshake or hotdog. Yummy! |
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We visited at about the time of school pick-up and had to wait patiently at the counter as the young ones and their mums ordered ice-cream and treats - a great experience and unique to the Valley! A similarly decorated milk bar once graced Rundle St East in Adelaide, but it’s long gone.
So if you’re bringing the rug rats on your crawl through the Valley, add the SWEET AS BAROSSA Diner to your itinerary -- you’ll be a hero if you do...and it might just buy you extra time at the next cellar door ‘lolly shop’ you want to visit!
So if you’re bringing the rug rats on your crawl through the Valley, add the SWEET AS BAROSSA Diner to your itinerary -- you’ll be a hero if you do...and it might just buy you extra time at the next cellar door ‘lolly shop’ you want to visit!
The Exchange Hotel, Gawler
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Getting to the Barossa is just a couple of hours from Adelaide for those who take the ‘traditional’ route through Elizabeth then on to historic Gawler, where a stop is a must before heading on to Lyndoch and further into the heart of the Valley.
For tourists or locals, visiting Gawler often involves lunch - as it did for earlier ‘tourists’ and locals when historically, Gawler was a ‘way-point’ for the horse-drawn coaches and traps which made their way north from Adelaide before venturing into the ‘outback’. It’s no surprise then that Gawler’s main street - and areas around its railway line - saw the establishment of a number of fine hotels, many of which survive today.
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