THE Schiller family’s first vineyard in the Barossa Valley was planted in the early 1880s, when the colony of South Australia was still taking root.

The Tanunda property still bears fruit that is hand-pruned and hand-picked with minimal use of machinery to make premium small-batch shiraz wine. 

Robert Schiller, 68, said the incredibly delicate vines were “pretty labour-intensive, but worth it”.

Now, Johanns Find Viticulture has a strong lineage in Tanunda and six generations later is run by Ben and Tom Schiller, with the help of their dad Robert.

Robert’s great-grandfather, Johann Schiller, leased the then-16-acre (six-hectare) vineyard land from Johann Grocke before buying it in the 1870s.

Robert began his working life on the property in 1970 when the daily grind was more laborious.

He has seen the industry evolve with new machinery and technology to help with growing and harvesting grapes.

“Things have gotten easier in that respect… everything is machine-picked now and the training of vines and pruning has changed,” he said. 

Robert still works full-time on the property, but has gradually handed over the reins to his sons.

As the number of family members grew, so did the vineyard, expanding to just over 72 hectares, with plans to expand further this year.

Ben, 30, who has a mechanical background, works on the day-to-day operations and machinery.

Tom, 37, is a viticulturist, a specialist in the cultivation or culture of grapes for winemaking, and has already been working in the business for almost a decade.

“We work well together; we both have different things we look after and different interests within the business,” Ben said.

“There’s definitely an obligation there when you’ve got rich history to carry on the family, but it’s always been a great passion of Tom’s and mine from an early age.

“I’d always wanted to go out there and watch harvest and be a part of it, so it was always in my blood.”

In the past almost six years, the business has expanded from growing and harvesting its own vintage to also offering vineyard management services, now  managing another 50 hectares of vineyard separate to the farm. 

“During the bad years, it’s just a bit more reliable income,” Ben said of the expansion.

A “bad year” can be a drought-stricken or a frosty one, each causing damage to the efficiency of the grape crop. 

“In 2018, we were wiped out from a frost that took out about 50 per cent of the property, so we’ve made some changes and installed some frost-mitigation machines, which have helped,” Ben said.

Hail is another damaging element and many farmers were affected by the most recent hailstorm South Australia experienced last October.

“We got away with it relatively OK this time,” Ben said

“A lot of growers have been hit hard with that; their crops aren’t looking that flash because of it.”

The long lineage of the business has meant the family has seen the ups and downs that the Barossa wine industry has faced and its hard yards to become an established wine region on a global scale. 

From the 1970s, the Barossa started to get its name for red over its fortified wine, then the early 1980s saw the area boom for red table wine.

“We’ve got a very strong brand in the Barossa, but we certainly have to keep our foot on the pedal in driving it,” Ben said.

“I think the area is established enough now to say we think we’re the best region in Australia, if not the southern hemisphere.

“If we keep driving those high expectations by diversifying and changing wine styles to suit the consumer, we’ll be safe.”

The industry faced hardship when China brought in import tariffs on Australian wine last March.  

“We’re just starting to feel the effects now as growers,” Ben said.

“Winemakers obviously can’t sell their wine as easily so they don’t require as much fruit, so supply and demand for fruit is on the downward trend, which naturally drives prices down.”

Ben said the solution was to expand to new markets and “not having all your eggs in one basket”.

Also, he said the Coalition needed to mend the relationship with China, one of the former biggest importers of Australian wine.

“The more eggs in more baskets means there’s less risk in these situations,” Ben said.

“I think a lot of people have been burnt by the situation so they’re wary to look elsewhere in case they suddenly throw tariffs on and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”

The father-son trio are nurturing and irrigating vines to harvest very soon.

Ben said people’s palates seemed to be changing, leaning away from the heavier Barossa reds.

“It’s what we’re known for, but there’s plenty of producers toying around with lighter-style wines now,” he said.

“You’ve got to be adaptive to the consumer… you’ve got to keep moving with the trends; keep the traditional practices, but be willing to move with the times as well.”