The many faces of Barossa Shiraz

Daniel Chaffey Hartwig founded Chaffey Bros. in 2008, with brother-in-law Theo Engela, joining the team in 2013. Part perfumiers, part historians and part mad scientists. They craft their handmade wines from epic low-yielding vineyards nestled among the pristine Barossa & Eden Valleys. Their philosophy is ‘New Wave Barossa’... Soil up. Aromatic. Textural. Unadulterated.

Daniel’s great uncle, Bill Chaffey, founded Seaview Wines in McLaren Vale and his father comes from a winemaking family spanning five generations. His ancestors (the original Chaffey Brothers c.1886) pioneered the Sunraysia and Riverland regions, designing and implementing the original irrigation and established the first winery, Mildara Wines.

Born in Eden Valley and of German heritage, winemaking eventually beckoned. As a child, Barossa’s back blocks were his adventure playground. School holidays were spent picking grapes before working the tasting bench at Penfolds’ cellar door. After 8 years in the wine label game, he became a bulk wine merchant… ultimately, a desire to find a creative outlet and make a unique expression of the region that shaped him, led to the birth of Chaffey Bros.

Born on the outskirts of Barossa, Craig Stansborough was intrigued by the industry that enveloped his friend’s parents. Travel was on his mind after leaving school, but an opportunity to work at the iconic Seppeltsfield winery led to an exciting start of his wine journey.Having never let go of his dream of owning his own vineyard, Craig sold the family home and purchased 21ha in Southern Barossa, planting the first vines in the late 1990s, amongst his duties of Chief Winemaker at Grant Burge Wines.In 2006 Craig was joined by friend and fellow wine devotee, Mark Slade, bringing Purple Hands Wines to life.

Craig is a passionate ambassador for Barossa, lending his expert palate and business acumen to the Barossa Wine technical committee and Barossa Wine Show. Just acknowledgement of Craig’s talent and contribution came in 2014 when he was awarded Barossa Winemaker of the Year.

Since 2008, Head Winemaker Andrew Quin has influenced the evolution of the vineyard with a focus on crafting modern wines from traditional Barossa varieties. In his initial years post-study, Andrew travelled and worked around the Northern hemisphere, starting in California with premium Sonoma producer St Francis winery before heading to the old world where he worked for wine negociant Jacques Lurton in the Languedoc.

Andrew returned to Australia with one question in mind... 'which region most suits my winemaking style and passion for wine?' The answer was simple - the mighty Barossa, where big, bold reds are the signature, and complex, textural whites a discovery. Whilst based in the Barossa with Yalumba working on their premium reds, the opportunity to join the team at Hentley Farm arose. Following a brief look at the vineyard site and the 2006 premium Shiraz, he jumped on board!

Born in London but grown in Yorkshire, Mark’s career has seen him live in France, the UK and Taiwan. Wine seemed like an unlikely career for someone with a Masters Degree in Social Work, but his love of taste, the outdoors and a generally curious disposition meant that he felt compelled to do something different. The appeal of wine’s unparalleled diversity, coupled with its link to the land and the generations of families who make it, made working in the wine-industry an obvious if not straightforward choice.

The last nineteen years has seen Mark working across three continents in a variety of roles covering import, sales, wine production, writing, teaching and marketing. Mark has visited Australia regularly and the help and inspiration he has received from many in the Australian wine industry, compelled him to focus his attention on Barossa when it came to choosing a subject for his MW research paper; it was undoubtedly the right choice.