Faith Lutheran School is located on the edge of Tanunda in the beautiful Barossa Valley. The school was established in 1985 and by 1992 the Agriculture faculty began making small batches of wine as part of the Year 10 Agricultural Studies programme. Stuart Blackwell from St Hallett Wines has mentored the programme since it’s inception. In 1994 the business name “Mengler View Wines” was registered and our first hogshead of Shiraz was released in October of 1995.
Our annual crush has gradually grown from half a tonne in 1995 to 15 tonne of fruit being crushed in 2004 . Industry support for this project has been excellent with St Hallett Wines, Vinpac International, A.P. John Cooperage and Barossa Printmasters being major sponsors and supporters.
Wine sales initially were totally within the Faith School community but this has since expanded to bottle shops both in SA and Queensland as well as some selected Barossa restaurants. Exports of wine to the West coast of America have occurred since 1999. and future exports to the Asian and European markets look promising. An exciting partnership began in 2004 with wine being sold in Queensland sister schools Faith Lutheran College, Redlands and Trinity Lutheran College, Ashmore.
Mengler View Wines are only exhibited on a regular basis at the Barossa Wine Show with Bronze medals being awarded for our 1998 and 2000 Doecke Block Shiraz as well as a Bronze for the 2001 Hage Block Merlot. To achieve this level of success in open classes is tangible evidence that the wines are well and truly of a commercial standard. This is an exciting achievement for the students at Faith as they are involved in all stages of production from picking through to crushing, fermentation and pressing. All wines are matured for 18 months leading upto bottling. This is the only phase of production not done on the school premises and is vital for a quality assured product.
Faith became the first school in Australia to construct a purpose built winery with the Faith Wine Education Centre being officially opened in October 2002. This fully functional winery and teaching facility has enabled students to work in an industry standard facility. The venture was made possible with fantastic corporate sponsorship as well as a generous interest free loan from a Faith benefactor. Funds generated from wine sales will repay this $240,000 loan over an 8 year period.
We invite you to visit us, not only to see this magnificent facility but also to enjoy our student produced wines.
Bob Mitchell
Agriculture Coordinator and Winery Manager
Faith Lutheran School is located on the edge of Tanunda in the beautiful Barossa Valley. The school was established in 1985 and by 1992 the Agriculture faculty began making small batches of wine as part of the Year 10 Agricultural Studies programme. Stuart Blackwell from St Hallett Wines has mentored the programme since it’s inception. In 1994 the business name “Mengler View Wines” was registered and our first hogshead of Shiraz was released in October of 1995.
Mengler View Wines are only exhibited on a regular basis at the Barossa Wine Show with Bronze medals being awarded for our 1998 and 2000 Doecke Block Shiraz as well as a Bronze for the 2001 Hage Block Merlot. To achieve this level of success in open classes is tangible evidence that the wines are well and truly of a commercial standard. This is an exciting achievement for the students at Faith as they are involved in all stages of production from picking through to crushing, fermentation and pressing. All wines are matured for 18 months leading upto bottling. This is the only phase of production not done on the school premises and is vital for a quality assured product.