Pitchfork Shiraz

Berton Vineyards was established in 1996 by Bob and Cherie Berton who purchased land in High Eden within the Barossa Valley, South Australia; an idyllic property sitting 450m above sea level on gentle rolling hills. Bob and Cherie started off without a permanent supply of water, as well as their vines being planted on with the seemingly hydrophobic podzolic soil, which meant they struggled to establish. Their Swedish friends playfully coined the term ‘Bonsai Vineyard’ a name that affectionately became their Flagship shiraz wine.

In 1998, thankfully, a dam was established and their little Bonsai vines finally got their thirst quenched. They had seven acres of chardonnay and ten shiraz planted originally but once a good water supply came, they went on to plant Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. 2005 came and they decided to secure a winery to process the 100 tonnes of juice generated at High Eden, located in Yenda, 500 km north west of Melbourne, 580 km south west of Sydney. It was here that they joined forces with Paul Bartholomaeus, Jamie Bennett and James Ceccato to form the Berton Vineyard company seen today. Since 2005, they have tirelessly updated and enhanced their site such as adding a state-of-the art warehouse and new tank farms. They enjoy a vineyard at one of the highest parts of Barossa Valley, 500m above sea level and on the vineyard take a ‘less is more’ approach and try to reduce intervention as much as possible. Sustainability has become fundamental to their practices, using ion exchange technology to assist cold stabilisation in the winemaking process, to help reduce the amount of tartaric acid needed and all the costs related to chilling the juice to -4 degrees and its effect on the environment. Additionally, chilling their wines at night, investing in insulated tanks, and fermenting at higher temperatures has reduced their environmental impact further. We see this also, with their reduction of weight in packaging, using renewable materials and reducing their energy usage by 43% since 2011; they are now part of the Sustainable Winegrowers Australia Membership certificate.