Wine, roses, art and un certain French flair.
The glittering gift store at Chateau Barrosa, in the Barossa Valley
may well be named All That Jazz, but it oozes French style thanks to
the creative flair of Lena Thumm.
Lena, married to Dieter Thumm, son of Chateau Barrosa owner and
Barossa wine baron, Hermann Thumm, opened her glamorous retail outlet
a year ago and the huge amount of glorious stock has become a tourist
attraction in a short period of time.
The theme is unashamedly geared for the Francophile with bijoux in big
glass display cabinets at every turn, beautiful table settings,
accessories from France, French-style homewares, gilt mirrors,
selected fashion, bags galore and art pieces.
Large bowls display countless artificial flowers on glamorous table
settings and pedestals and the visual effect is stunning.
The Cellar Door (a big tasting bar at the rear of then store) entices
customers to sample Chateau Barrosa wines and is the ideal distraction
for bored husbands, partners and lovers accompanying their womenfolk
on a tourist’s shopping spree.
Hermann Thumm, who passed away last year, once wrote “the happy
relationship between wine, art and creativity can be traced into
antiquity”.
He left an amazing legacy to the wine industry as the founder of
Chateau Yaldara which he built up from 1947 and sold in 2001 when he
was 88 years old to the McGuigian Wines Group. However Hermann and his
wife Inge immediately embarked on their new
project in their dotage, building Chateau Barrosa to house their
priceless collection of 18th and 19th century antiques, porcelaine,
figurines and antique furniture. The core of the collection put
together over 35 years, is 19th century porcelaine, which includes
pieces from the great porcelaine European houses of Meissen, Sevre,
Worcester, Chelsea and Stinton.
The grand Chateau, built to house the collection, now stands as their
legacy to the valley and as a monument to art lovers Hermann and Inge,
two pioneers of the Barossa Valley.
Tours of the antiques, some dating from the 17th century, enables
tourist to live Hermann Thumm’s experience – his love of wine, art and
music.
The Chateau, which houses the Cellar Door, All That Jazz (testament
to Lena’s creativity) and The Collection, is set amidst the 30,000
roses Hermann also planted in his lifetime. It all makes a visit to
Hermann Thumm’s Chateau Barrosa at Lyndoch a rare, wonderful sensual
experience.
Follow Queen Elizabeth, who also visited Thumm’s rose garden, at
Hermann Thumm Drive, 1.5kms north of Lyndoch. See
Tags: All That Jazz, Barossa Valley tourist attractions, French Provincial
absolutely french | nadine 14/08/2010