Smallfry Wines
Small in name but big on character, Smallfry Wines are made using small batch processes to showcase the particular flavours of the sub-regions of the Barossa wine region. Winemaker Wayne Ahrens rebels against the increasingly corporate wine industry by using artisanal winemaking practices and traditional viticulture to produce the kind of wines he’s proud to share with others.“If I went down in a time tunnel to medieval times, I like to think I could still make a good wine without modern help-technology,” he says.
Wayne and his wife Suzi both grew up on vineyards. Wayne now sources his fruit from his own 10-year-old Eden Valley vineyard as well as from older vines from the neighbours and from the Barossa floor. Wayne, who spent years running a contract wheat-spraying business, is now very sensitive to skin contact with herbicides and, where possible, he no longer sprays in his own vineyard.
One of the Barossa’s so-called “garagistes”, Wayne makes his luscious reds in the garage of the old bank building he and wife Suzi call home in the historic Barossa town of Angaston. (The whites need advanced equipment so they’re made at Rocland, a Barossa Valley wine-making facility). The tough micro-climate of Eden Valley produces great fruit, he says, leading to limey Rieslings with steely acid; raspberry and cassis Cabernet and terrific, peppery Shiraz. - Megan Lehmann

Wayne Ahrens with Henry and the 2008 reds
Wines from Smallfry Wines
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Smallfry Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Smallfry typically aims to make complex, structured Cabernet from the elevated Eden Valley sub-region. However, in 2009, a vintage where the Eden Valley proved ... read more »
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Smallfry Barossa Red Blend 2009
Winemaker Wayne Ahrens has been playing around with hardy European varieties such as Carignan and CInsault which he believes are well suited to southern Austral... read more »
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Smallfry Barossa Riesling 2010
In its old fashioned tall brown bottle, it conjures images of a time, decades ago, when this was the expected style from a majority of Australian Rieslings. Th... read more »
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Smallfry Barossa Rose 2010
Wayne’s been getting great wraps from critics for his Rose over the years, and sipping away on this one, I can easily see why. A great marriage of Cabernet a... read more »
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Smallfry Barossa Shiraz 2008
This 2008 Shiraz is very much in the Smallfry mode; big on flavour but with a light-footed manner about it. In a vintage where many reds suffered from flat, dry... read more »
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Smallfry Eden Valley Riesling 2010
Wayne Ahren's Barossa wines have garnered much attention for their purity of expression, regionality and charm. In 2010, his Eden Valley Riesling combines elega... read more »
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Smallfry Tempranillo Garnacha Joven 2010
A blend of Tempranillo, Grenache and Mataro. Positively bursting with juicy red & black berries and oh so fresh. There's a touch of pure "grapey-ness" about the... read more »
Tasting notes and reviews »







