The Barristers Block label was created in 2004 by Jan Siemelink-Allen together with her two sons James and Lachlan, and her husband Evert-Jan.

Jan has spent 20 years in the wine industry, starting in the Coonawarra managing Cellar Door outlets, then moving on to eventually spend 5 years managing South Australian sales for two major Australian wine companies, before leaving in September, 2004, to create and market her own label.

To enable us to maintain our standard of excellence, we ensure we obtain fruit from those regions which are known for providing the best fruit in a particular varietal.  As well as sourcing quality fruit from regions, such as the Barossa, the family farm in the Wrattonbully region has a 25-acre vineyard, growing Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, and we have recently expanded and purchased a 20-acre vineyard at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills. Notably, the Wrattonbully vineyard provided the fruit for the winning Jimmy Watson wine in 2004 under contract, whilst we are able to obtain quality Sauvignon Blanc fruit, so typical and admired of the Adelaide Hills region, from Woodside. 

Jan will be opening the new Barristers Block Cellar Door early in 2008.  She firmly believes that all who visit will embrace the wines in the natural setting of the vineyard and see where her passion comes from that enables Barristers Block to produce such high quality wines.

The ‘Greening’ of Our Business

Our vineyards are all run with minimal tillage and all natural fertilizers and as organically as we are able to be without certification as yet. We run our own sheep through the vineyard during winter to keep the growth down in the vineyards and also to provide natural fertilization. This also prevents compaction of the soils and avoids using fossil fuels to slash the vineyard.

All vineyards are drip irrigated and mulched in summer to ensure moisture is preserved in the soil and no water wastage.

We have planted a small forest on the Woodside vineyard as part of our offsetting programme, and are always looking  to extend our methods of managing our business more sustainably & increasing bio diversity in all of our agricultural pursuits.

We have recently completed an eco-mapping programme on our properties and are actively working towards becoming formally accredited as carbon neutral – given that Australia has only very recently signed agreements for this to be ratified this should hopefully be achieved in the very near future.