Our Roots

From the first vines planted in 1847 to a heritage that continues to flourish, Turkey Flat embodies the heart and history of the Barossa Valley.

Our name originates from the Prussian settlers of Bethany and Langmeil who arrived in the Barossa in the early 1840s. They noticed a large native bird frequenting the rich flats along the lower reaches of Tanunda Creek and named the site ‘Turkey Flat’. The bird was not a turkey at all, but Ardeotis australis, the Plains Bustard—a remarkable native species that is now rarely seen. We honour the significance of this bird and the original landscape that sustained it through the artwork featured on our label. The same unique landscape continues to nurture our vines and provides the foundation for our distinctive, character-filled wines.It was here, on the banks of Tanunda Creek, that pioneer Silesian settler Johann Friedrich August Fiedler planted the first Shiraz vines in 1847. One of the first Prussian Lutherans to make wine in the Barossa, Fiedler was recognised for his pioneering approach to viticulture, experimenting with grape varieties to determine what would thrive in the new settlement. In 1851, a visiting journalist recorded that Fiedler’s experimental vineyard contained 72 varieties, planted to discover which were best suited to the region’s conditions.Fiedler’s vines flourished, and the land known as Section One, in the Hundred of Moorooroo, was purchased in 1865 by Gottlieb Ernst Schulz, a successful butcher who established a thriving retail business among the vines. Over time, the butchering business evolved into dairying, yet the vineyards were carefully preserved.Generations later, the Schulz family continued this legacy, transforming the historic bluestone butcher’s shop into the Turkey Flat cellar door—the heart of the family’s winemaking story—and ensuring that the original vines planted by Fiedler remained central to the wines they create.Today, these ancient Shiraz vines, gnarled and twisted by more than 175 years of history, continue to produce fruit of extraordinary intensity and concentration. Their depth, complexity, and sense of place are what distinguish Turkey Flat wines and have earned them recognition among wine lovers around the world.