Founder

Hermann Thumm was born into a German Colony of 12,000 in Georgia. Hermann was the youngest of 13, and brought up in a German Vintner family. Wine, in every aspect, from the rolling vineyards to barrel maturation, was deeply engrained in Hermann's upbringing. His love for the craft was apparent from a young age, spending every moment he could by his Father's side learning all he could.

World War II saw Hermann forced to flee his homeland, and was eventually captured and sent to Australia as a Prisoner of War in 1941. An interment camp calledLovedaylocated in the Riverlands of South Australia would be where Hermann survived the remaining years of the war. Through his years as a POW, he resided to the fact his home was no longer in Georgia, and he decided to stay in Australia. To do so he had to obtain a job before leaving the camp. Writing to parishes across the state, he found work as a cellar hand on the outskirts of a small town nestled in the south of the Barossa Valley, called Lyndoch.

It was here he continued his love of wine, learning all he could from his colleagues. Eventually, he sought to build his own winery, and so near the end of 1946, he purchased the remains of a flax mill that stood on the banks of the North Para River. Here he would create Yaldara Wines, opening the winery in 1947, naming it as a homage to the wine he was most passionate about and was raised around; Sparkling wine. Yaldara is the indigenous word for 'sparkling', and so he felt it was the perfect name to describe his new home, created by his unwavering love for his original home amongst the hills of Georgia.

Over the span of more than 50 years, Hermann dedicated his life to his family and his work. Through consistent and profound hard work, he transformed Yaldara into an iconic landmark of the Barossa Valley. His family embedded themselves in the community, creating hundreds of jobs and opportunities.

Hermann eventually put pen to paper, and hadThe Road to Yaldara,his autobiography, created. His life saw his family's vast knowledge of wine making from Europe, live on through him and aid in transforming the Barossa Valley, a once small winemaking corner of the world, into a globally-renowned winemaking region.