St Jakobi Church, circa 1913
Barossa Valley, South Australia.
At the start of the 1930′s Oscar Semmler, Wayne’s grandfather, bought the St. Jakobi Church block, primarily for grazing. Oscar‟s son Ken returned to the Barossa Valley in the early 1970′s after first spreading his wings as a fighter pilot with the RAAF, and started the transition by planting the beloved Shiraz, and it is this first area of Shiraz which provides the precious component of Dutschke Wines. In 1990 Ken and Wayne decided to start producing wine of their own from this vineyard under the brand “WillowBend”. Then with the 1998 vintage release, interest from the US led to the name being changed to Dutschke Wines and production for future vintages was revved up.