Our family history
The gnarly old vines planted over 60 years ago by the ancestors of Schulz Wines, are now the product of an incredible legacy that is being brought to life by the current generation, Marcus and his family.
Using these amazing dry grown vines, grown in Ebenezer soil, Marcus has continued with tradition and kept his vineyard and wine making practices beautifully simple. The wines are all organic, bio-dynamic, sustainable and pesticide free. All of these factors combined work together to produce a unique and stunning wine that reflects it’s roots in every way.
The Schulz family are now one of the most established Ebenezer grape growing families in the Barossa Valley, and it’s with great gratitude and respect that they pay homage to their ancestors. A range of wines made from the first grapes planted over 60 years ago, have been created and named after each ancestor who had a vital role in the continuation of the family property.
Homage to our history
Johann August Schulz
Following his arrival in Adelaide in 1849 Johann or August as he was known, settled in Hoffnungsthal a small Lutheran community near Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley. In 1853 he married Willhemine Silbernagel and shortly after had two children. The family lived a life of rural subsistence that involved growing vegetables, smoking meats, preserving fruits and working the land.
In 1859 Willhemine and Johann had their third child, Mattheus Benjamin who met and married Maria Elizabeth Koch in 1884. It was this union that sealed the fate of the Schulz family and its future generations.
Mattheus Benjamin Schulz
After his marriage to Elizabeth in 1884, Elizabeth’s father, Friedrich, handed over the title to his property in Ebenezer to the newlyweds. The land was for an area that was and is still known simply as section 51 and 54 of 100 Belvidere in the County of Light (now Light District).
Benjamin set about planting close to 25 acres of what were to become the classic Barossa varieties of Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro. All these vines were established as bush vines and are still low yielding and dry grown to this day.
In 1885 Benjamin and Elizabeth had the first of their five children, but it was their third son Carl Julius born in 1889, who would eventually oversee section 51 and 54. By the late 1800’s Benjamin had increased his land holdings by some 250 acres which brought the total to approximately 500 acres. Simultaneously he also increased his vine plantings up to 80 acres. Benjamin and Elizabeth finished building their first home, a bluestone villa known as ‘Primrose’ on section 51 in 1905. The house had a traditional wood fired baking oven and smoke house which have been meticulously maintained and restored by Marcus. The house was also large enough to accomodate two families as it is the Lutheran custom to care for ones grandparents in their old age.
Carl Julius Schulz
Julius was working alongside his father by the time he was 14 years old, continuing to oversee the property as well as nurturing and maintaining the vines that previously had been planted by his father. By the time that Julius had taken over running the property, his father had divided the land up evenly between Julius and his older brother Harry.
At 21 Julius married Clara Schrapel. Clara was a woman of sharp wit and smart business acumen. These traits combined held the family together and ensured their future following the early death of Julius in 1934.
Being a stoic man, Julius was not one to admit that he was ill. He was the type of man (as were many of his generation) that soldiered on regardless. It was this stubbornness that kept him from being diagnosed with chronic pneumonia. Even in the early 20th century this condition was treatable yet he died at 33 leaving Clara with two small children aged just one and two and a property of some 270 acres to manage.
Louise Clara Schulz
Louise or Clara as she was better known was married to Julius Schulz – the family larrikin and lover of good times. Clara was a woman of determination and a believer in the future. Planning for the future was Clara’s way of taking care of the past and maintaining the established family business for it was when Julius’ life was cut short at the young age of 33 and Clara was left with a small family a large debt as well as a property to manage that her true colours shone through.
Through sheer hard work and perseverance as well as the support of the strong community in the Barossa Valley Clara held onto Primrose maintained the Schulz’s vineyards and raised two children one of whom, took over from her when he was old enough to assume a more fundamental role in the Schulz family’s business.
Clara lived longer than most of the Schulz’s and it wasn’t until a week or two before her death that she was admitted to Angaston Hospital. Clara’s legacy was and always will be to not dwell on the past – what’s done is done and no matter how hard you try you just can’t change what’s happened. Always look to the future because that’s where your life is remember the past but concentrate on the good memories.
Dennis Ross Schulz
Dennis, apart from Benjamin was one of the first of the Schulz’s to continue on with the property by himself. Like his mother, Dennis was astute business wise with a strong sense of vision.
When DR (as he was also known) took over he had 25 acres of vineyard to maintain and 250 acres of land. In 1944, he married Linda Schulz from Bethany, and like the Schulz wives before her Linda was a devoted and supportive wife capable of running a busy household as well as assisting with the day to day management of the Schulz property.
In the late 1950’s DR set out to secure long-term contracts with local wineries one of which was Kaiser Stuhl. Having recognised the potential that this variety had not just within the region but in the country, Kaiser Stuhl convinced DR that growing Chardonnay would deliver a prosperous future for both himself and the Australian wine industry in general. It was the combination of this agreement and DR’s pioneering spirit that eventually helped to protect the vineyards from the Vine Pull Scheme that was initiated in the early 1980’s.
A man who was fond of his much and a good drink, he was the first man in the Barossa region to grow Chardonnay. As such as Marcus has named his Chardonnay after his father who planted the vines back in the mid 1960’s.
Marcus Noel Schulz
Marcus is a fifth generation Schulz and the sole owner of sections 51 and 54 in Ebenezer. He is also the first of his family to release a wine made from the old dry grown vines planted by previous generations.
Like those before him, Marcus left school early and was working full time in the vineyards from the age of fourteen. Together DR and Marcus further increased plantings from 25 to 60 acres by planting more Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro.
The old low yielding vines that cover the Schulz property have survived the Vine Pull scheme and continue to be an investment that pays well for both vigneron and winemaker.
His focus was and still remains to produce the highest quality grapes he can – in order to achieve this he has concentrated solely on the vineyards. Marcus has increased the plantings again by another 60 or so acres employing sustainable agricultural principals.
In 1970 Marcus married Roslyn Habel, who managed to juggle tying on whilst her twins were only five months old, as well as managing the business in conjunction with Marcus. In 1991 Marcus became seriously ill and Ros oversaw the business entirely until Marcuss was well enough to return to work on a full time basis.
Both Marcus and Ros love a good party and it was during an occasion at ‘Primrose’ in 1992 that Marcus met Dave Powell from Torbreck. An animated conversation ensued which resulted in Dave purchasing a ton of Shiraz grapes from Marcus’ old dry grown bush vines. A few years and many a chat later Dave offered to make the wines for Marcus’ Schulz label and has been doing so since 2001.
Anthony Schulz
Marcus is a fifth generation Schulz and the sole owner of sections 51 and 54 in Ebenezer. He is also the first of his family to release a wine made from the old dry grown vines planted by previous generations.