Paul Thomas Tribus Wines

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Starting a new wine project in a region as storied as the Barossa Valley means taking a position in relation to its traditions. For most winemakers, the choice is between tearing up the region’s rulebook and scandalising the traditionalists – as a cohort of young vignerons did in the Barossa roughly a decade ago – or leaning in to the region’s reputation. But there is a third way: honouring history and tradition, while respectfully updating the elements that no longer resonate with the general public. It’s a tough needle to thread, but Paul Thomas’s Barossa project Tribus does so with aplomb. Thomas crafts a tight lineup of approachable wines from Barossa stalwarts shiraz, grenache, and mataro, with a little cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc thrown in for good measure, alongside a riesling from the Watervale subregion of the nearby Clare Valley.

Thomas is at pains to let others know that he’s not from the Barossa Valley. “I am not Barossa born, so not technically a local, but I do enjoy the history and stories that the Barossa has,” he says. “The Barossa is a very unique place, with so much heritage and history I want to be a part of.” While he might not technically be a local, his country background – he grew up in regional South Australia before heading to the big smoke of Adelaide for his winemaking degree – has endeared him to the locals. “I got my first job in the Barossa, which taught me so much of what I know now,” he says. “There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here in the Barossa, and I aim to get as much out of them as possible – although that is very hard sometimes, some don’t want to give up their secrets!”

Thomas’s relationship to the Barossa – halfway between an insider and an outsider – plays out in his wines, too. “My style of wine is traditional Barossan, I guess,” he says. “I have been picking a little earlier in the past couple of years, but I think that was mainly due to consumer (and my) interests in keeping alcohols lower – as hard as that is in the Barossa, as I am still looking for fruit ripeness.” A relatively hands-off approach by Barossan standards – only one pump-over per day as the reds ferment – and the use of a basket press keeps the wines from becoming over-extracted or too tightly wound in their youth.

Thomas walks this fine line between Barossa heritage and lower-alcohol, fresher wines in order to craft consumer-friendly wines that are approachable, immediate, and delicious. “I am looking to make wines that I want to drink,” he says. “I want to be able to drink a bottle of wine [and] not wake up with a hangover from the alcohol or sulphur – but on top of that, I want my family and friends to be proud of the wine I make, and for them to drink it too!” He’s neither proudly new-wave Barossa, nor making the big bruiser museum-piece wines that the Barossa is famous for. “I wouldn’t call my wines light, but they have less tannin and astringency than other big wines,” he says. “I am aware of changing tastes in consumers, but I still make wine that I want to drink.”

“I want to be able to drink a bottle of wine and not wake up with a hangover from the alcohol or sulphur – but on top of that, I want my family and friends to be proud of the wine I make, and for them to drink it too!”

His approach in the cellar is flexible. “There is a recipe of kind for each wine, but there are always changes and small modifications to each ferment,” he says. “Don’t let the recipe rule your ferment, you need to adapt and change as the conditions change.” He’s grateful for the flexibility that he has in making wine for such a small label. “I made a Mataro in 2022,” he adds. “I picked it green, thinking it was ripe enough – then, during ferment, I started to worry a little. It ended up being quite a light wine that didn’t really fit the brand, and so I had to improvise to blend some heavier shiraz in. Being such a small winery, we are not set to certain varieties or certain labels and can have the luxury of creating them when the times suits.”

As befits someone with his reverence for the traditions of the region, Thomas has worked closely with some of the titans of the Barossa. His first winemaking job was at Kellermeister under its original founder, Ralph Jones, and not long afterwards he racked up vintage experience with former Penfolds Grange winemaker John Duval. After a break from the wine world to earn a masters degree in finance and accounting, he went to work with Hoffmann Family Vineyards as finance manager. Thomas credits Adrian Hoffmann with giving him the impetus to start Tribus: “I had been thinking of doing this since 2008, but had never been in a position to do it,” he says. “I guess what pushed me is having access to Adrian Hoffmann’s fruit from Dimchurch Vineyard, and having Adrian as a mentor regarding the vineyard side of things.” Even after founding Tribus, Thomas still pushes himself to rub shoulders with key figures in the region, most recently doing a stint as cellar hand at Chris Ringland Wines, where he helped craft some of the region’s most iconic (and expensive) wines.

For his own project, though, his aims are more modest – to make approachable wines at a friendly price point, and to hopefully one day make enough money from the endeavour to make it his full-time gig. His game plan to get there? Keep it simple, stupid. “I think I like to let the vintage talk,” he says. “We can’t have great years every year, but what we can do is tell a story of every year, show how the weather keeps changing and so do the wines. The last thing I want is to have a wine that looks the same every year.”

Paul Thomas Tribus Wines

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