The beautiful scenery of the Barossa Valley in South Australia offers a plethora of sensory delights with 150 vineyards, fine dining and German inspired cafes.
It had been a long hot trip from NSW, so dry that Simon had photographed the parched earth and this year’s patchy grain harvest in disbelief. 1,500 km later and we were in South Australia, finally rolling into the Barossa Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in Australia.
Settled by Germans in the 1840’s, german was even spoken here until World War 1 when an act of Parliament changed the place names and it became wise to speak English.
The first vines were planted in 1847 at the Orlando vineyard: today there are some 150 vineyards, about 80 of which offer excellent free tasting experiences to visitors, as well as dining opportunities.
It is a pretty landscape with rolling hills, scattered trees and many old stone buildings. Tanunda is the central town and has some delightfully unspoilt low colonial architecture with cool verandahs and delicate iron tracery.
We stopped for lunch at the Red Door Cafe on the main street almost opposite the friendly tourist information office. It does not look much from the outside, but it is airy and spacious inside with a nice little garden at the back.
Here it is the reverse of England: with 40° heat, it is preferable to be inside with the air conditioning on! We perched at the barrels in the window and snacked on yummy pulled pork tacos, rhubarb and ginger smoothies and delicious cheesecakes.
Rockford
Thus fortified we set out to do some wine tasting, calling in on an old favourite of mine, Rockford. This lovely little cellar door is housed in a cobweb strewn 1850’s stone barn, old harness hanging from hooks inside.
They produce two iconic wines: the basket press shiraz and a sparkling shiraz, produced in methode champanoise style. Both retail at about $70 a bottle and are limited to three per customer at the cellar door. Only the 2018 sparking was available when we called, a deliciously dry mouthful of rich plummy shiraz – if you only ever buy one sparkling shiraz, make it this one: heaven in a glass.
The Barossa has developed quite a name for itself with its GSM blend: grenache, shiraz and mataro. Rockfords version is called Moppa Springs ($30) and it is a soft everyday drinking wine. Others in the Rockford stable that we tasted include the 2015 Rod & Spur shiraz/cabernet blend ($38) and the 2016 Rifle Range cabernet sauvignon ($51) – both very smooth full flavoured wines.
This cellar door is literally just up the road from Rockford and is another in the traditional style, with squishy sofas on the outside verandahs and wandering dogs. Inside, there is one large wooden table where you sit down and enjoy the proffered wines. If you get a good group of people there, it can feel like a chatty house party.
These wines are good too, I would happily take a case of any of them home. Top of the range is Nine Popes, a classic grenache/shiraz/mourvedre blend ($150) which works brilliantly – expect to see more coming on line. The Australians create great wines with their blends.
There is a confusion of names ranging from the La Belle Mere GSM, the 2017 Father in Law shiraz ($28) and the Kirche right through to the 2014 & 2015 Grains of Heaven , but they are all delicious well rounded wines packed with fruity flavour.
There is also an interesting accommodation option at this vineyard: a converted 1864 Lutheran chapel just at the edge of the vineyards offering a lovely self catering lodge with welcome pack on arrival.
There are two other nearby vineyards I like: St Hallett for its reliable reds and Jacobs Creek, housed in a spectacular glass building with superb views over the vineyards and encircling hills. It is possible to combine food and wine tasting in their restaurant and though it is a brand one gets rather blasé about in England, due to its ubiquity, they do produce some serious wines and have a 5 star James Halliday rating.
We merely dipped our toes in the water on this visit, but it was nice to stop driving for a while and visit some world class vineyards. You could happily spend a week exploring the area, and the Eden Valley, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills are also very close.
Notes
Find out more information on the Barossa Valley here.