It is a story about new beginnings, a story about a young couple, with a young family, forging their own path within a wine region as first generation winegrowers. While not locals, there is a saying in the Barossa that you have to have a grand-parent in the ground before you are considered a local, Susan Yelland and Michael Papps call the Barossa home and are as passionate as any sixth-generation Barossan about the region, its vines and its history and its characters. Michael has lived in the Barossa for the past 20 years, working in the wine industry in a number of sectors from winery work to bottling lines and wife Susan, moved to the Barossa in 1999 from the Yorke Peninsula after time spent in Adelaide and New York studying at the Windows of the World wine school. Today Michael and Susan own a five acre property on the valley floor out side of Nuriootpa and have two young children, Peyton and Campbell.
With no prior study in winemaking they started producing wines from 2005, initially only for family and friends and Susan and Michael soon realised that their passion lay in the wines and vines of this famous region and Yelland & Papps was born.....and the passion runs deep. It encompasses not only the old-vine material of the Barossa, names familiar to all such as Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Mataro all make an appearance in the Yelland & Papps range. It's a passion for the future stars of the Barossa, varieties such as Vermentino, Carignan, Roussanne, Barbera, Dolcetto, Primitivo, varieties that are well-suited to Australia's most famous wine region and the proof is in a glass of Yelland & Papps wines.
Yelland & Papps embarked upon their ventures of winemaking in the right way, purely for their own enjoyment and for the appreciation of family and friends. They remain dedicated to sustainable agriculture, to a holistic vineyard management and minimal intervention in the winemaking.
They are passionate about running a small winery and living in a sustainable fashion, of using minimal inputs during the winemaking process to allow the fruit to speak in a clear voice, uncluttered by over zealous oak and a heavy hand. Passionate about the produce they farm, a visit to the charming Yelland & Papps cellar door will see you sampling their Delight, Devote and Divine wines but seasonal produce fresh from the property - walnuts, lentils, jams, terrines and vegetables are all on offer.
Rated five red stars and one of the Ten Best New Wineries in Australia by James Halliday, the wines of Yelland & Papps have certainly hit a chord with wine press gaining rave reviews in James Halliday's Wine Companion, Nick Stocks Good Wine Guide, Winefront, The Adelaide Review Hot 100. But it is the wine drinker that has come to love and appreciate the wines of the new Barossa that Yelland & Papps represent, balanced, flavoursome and food-friendly offerings that are produced in a thoughtful fashion, respecting the history of the Barossa and the land from which the come from.
In a relatively short space of time, Yelland & Papps have become one of the brightest stars of the New Barossa. One of the producers leading the region into the future while showing a deep respect for the past, experimenting with new varieties and techniques and aiming for a sustainable future that they can pass on to their next generation. The wines and the philosophy behind them speaks volumes.
