The Steingarten, or commonly translated into English as The
Stone Garden, lies high above the floor of the Barossa Valley in
the ranges to the east of Rowland Flat. It was planted in 1962 by
Orlando Wines, which was then owned by the original Gramp
family.
Initially, around 1¼ acres (½ hectare) was planted, with the
Steingarten many years later extended to cover 3 acres (1¼
hectares).
This garden was only able to be established after first
bulldozing and blasting, then rock breaking and hole boring, to
make way for the planting of Riesling vines. Due to the difficulty
and sheer hard work of development, the plantings were made in the
traditional German spacing of 4 foot apart (half the spacing of a
normal vineyard).
My father was involved in much of this early work, breaking the
schist rock with a mallet and boring holes for the plantings by
tractor, in a ridiculously dangerous operation by today’s
standards (no roll bars back then)!
The cool climate, combined with the poor (almost non-existent)
soil, has created variable wines over the years, some being of
extremely good quality, but always of low yield.
From the trailhead on Trial Hill Road, you can do an 8km loop
walk (also part of the Mawson Trail), passing by the Steingarten
vineyard or alternatively, drive to the viewing area (remember to
close the gates behind you).
After first viewing the Steingarten, it’s a short walk
across the road (overlooking the valley floor) to retrieve the
cache.