Ben Glaetzer - Youngest Barossa Baron

At the age of 28, winemaker Ben Glaetzer has become the youngest member of the Barons of the Barossa, a special 30-year-old wine fraternity of the Barossa Valley.
    He was inducted into the fraternity at a special ceremony last Saturday night (October 15) at the Wolf Blass Function Centre, joining his winemaker father Colin and Colin’s twin brother, John, also a winemaker, as Barons.
    At the same ceremony, Colin Glaetzer was elected to the Grand Council (the Barons’ governing body) as Honorary Vigneron to preside over the Barons’wine selection at all functions.
     Ben is wine maker for Glaetzer family wines, director and wine maker for Heartland wines, director and wine maker for Mitolo wines, and director and general manager for Barossa Vintners winery.
    He was named as the Qantas Young Wine Maker of the Year for 2004 and, among other recent accolades, his 2004 Heartland Shiraz was given The Advertiser 2005 SA Wine of the Year gong by both the judges and consumers panels.
    The Barons of Barossa fraternity was founded in 1974 by a group of influential wine industry personalities in the Barossa Valley.
    It is modelled on similar groups in France, Germany Spain and the USA which not only promote their regions’ wines but also engage in philanthropic and charitable works.