The Barossa Wine Region is broadly divided into 2 regions; Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. Within these regions are unique sites that sharply focus general regional wine styles into vineyard and even block specific wines that are a true reflection of that site’s terroir.
Maverick has 4 vineyards, each in very different areas of the Barossa giving it the ability to create unique vineyard specific wines.
Understanding the concept of "Terroir" is fundamental to Maverick's plans to create site specific wines. Terroir is a French term meaning total elements of the vineyard.
Specific elements that contribute to a grape's composition and resultant wine style include:
- Soil
- Altitude and its effect on temperature and climate in general
- Temperature
- Rainfall
- Relative Humidity
- Sunshine hours
- Wind
- Aspect
- Vineyard management
- Vine age
- Vine clone
One of the great aspects of the Barossa as a wine region is its unparalleled vine clonal diversity. As one of the first wine regions established in Australia it has many vineyards of significant age, many of which were established using vine planting material taken from the famous European wine regions before they were ravaged with phylloxera. This clonal material had been selected over generations of cultivation in Europe and is now preserved in some of the oldest "own rooted" vineyards in the world in the Barossa. The absence of phylloxera, which is regarded as the world's worst grape pest and has been responsible for the transition of own rooted vines to the use of rootstocks in most grape growing areas of the world, has meant Barossa vineyards have survived the test of time.
