Neal and I took a well deserved mid winter break and flew to South Australia for six days. Thankfully it is usually very reasonable to fly to Adelaide, Tasmania and Sydney from Melbourne for about $80 one way. We flew out on Tuesday July 16 and took our rental car for the 1.5hr drive to the beautiful Barossa Valley. The information centre in Tanunda was very helpful and we received plenty of wine country maps and guides. Neal was my reliable wine chauffer and drove to some of the bigger wineries in the Barossa Valley. The Valley itself is beautiful and since it was winter time the hills were lush and green while the vines were barren and brown, the contrast was stunning and mirrored the summer season where the extreme heat and the fact that South Australia is the driest state in the driest country on earth it’s the opposite. The Barossa Valley has an impressive bike path that winds around all of the towns and vineyards that comprise the wine region. Had the weather been a little warmer we would have definitely taken this option.
We first visited the Jacob’s Creek Information Center which has several walks you can take around the property, as well as a beautiful cellar door and restaurant. Following this we went to Thorne-Clarke which makes the well known “Shotfire Shiraz.” Neal had been a huge fan of this wine for the last 6 years and stated that this was the one winery he absolutely wanted to see. It is a family owned and run winery that makes several delicious wines. Since it is pretty easy to buy the Shotfire Shiraz in most liquor stores here we opted to get the delicious 2009 Malbec that they make. Malbec is very uncommon to get in Australia. We also got it because it was our 4 year Wedding Anniversary trip and if you can do the math that means we got married on June 27, 2009. This wine will age well for the next 5-10 years and we plan on keeping a bottle to celebrate an anniversary in a few years. We then went to Penfold’s to taste some wine and found that their cellar door was underwhelming. Since they are such a big winery they didn’t seem to feel the need to make a standout cellar door. We weren’t there for very long and other than their Port we weren’t too impressed. Our friends at home in Calgary recommended Elderton Winery as they did an Australia wine tasting class and really liked it. This was an amazing suggestion S&L! We had several impressive wines and ended up spending our afternoon on the front porch enjoying a cheese platter and a glass of wine. After a well deserved afternoon nap from all of the wine I tasted we went to a delicious Indian restaurant in Nuriootpa called Barossa Indian.
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| Jacob's Creek |
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| Like a Good Wife... |
We stayed at a beautiful B&B called Barossa House. The owners Lee & Judi were great hosts and made delicious breakfasts each morning for us. They also offer guided tours and we took them up on it on the second day. Lee took us to four wineries that were smaller but with very interesting stories. We tend to like the wineries that are more the family run and a bit of an underdog in the corporate wine producing world. We started at Chateau Tanunda and were amazed by the stunning venue and the wine was really good too. Our second stop was Langmeil which has the oldest Shiraz vines in the world that date back to 1843. Let me tell you the $100/bottle Freedom Shiraz was delicious, needless to say we didn’t end up buying a bottle though! We went to Grant Burke for lunch and a tasting and followed it up with tastings at Peter Lehman and wrapped it up at Whistler wines that have their own Kangaroo sanctuary. We got to meet Butts (short for Buttons, because he was castrated so he wouldn’t be a threat to the female kangaroos in the sanctuary, poor guy!)
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| Chateau Tanunda |
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| Grant Burke |
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| Langmeil |
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| Whistler Winery with Buttons! |
We celebrated our anniversary with our delicious Langmeil 2010 Grenache Wine in 1918 in Tanunda. We had a delicious dinner of scallops, prawns and steak and wrapped it up with lemon pudding. We really enjoyed our dinner here and would recommend it to anyone passing through. Leaving the Barossa Valley we had 15 bottles of wines from the numerous wineries we visited to take with us. Thankfully Australia Post came through and was able to ship a box of 12 bottles back and insure it for $36!
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| Our Wine Purchases... |
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| Four Year Anniversary |
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| 1918 Anniversary Dinner |
On Thursday we drove through the German town of Hahndorf on our way into Adelaide. It is a very cute town and unfortunately the weather was not too cooperative and didn’t allow us to really explore and walk around. Since it was winter the strawberry farms were also closed so there wasn’t a whole lot to do compared to when other people we know had visited in summer.
We also drove to Mount Lofty as the view of Adelaide; which is a small flat city surrounded by the Adelaide Hills, is supposed to be stunning. The view would have been incredible but again we had a wall of rain come towards us so our visit was short lived.
We arrived into Adelaide and were able to walk around a little but before the torrential cold rain started. Adelaide has a few impressive things to see. We really enjoyed the Adelaide Zoo that has the only Giant Pandas in the southern hemisphere. On the Friday night we took the tram out to Glenerg and had a delicious seafood dinner at The Wharf followed by drinks and live music at The Sunset Bar. There are a few areas of Adelaide that were a little “Bogan” (Australian for red-neck). Adelaide does have some classic architecture and several beautiful parks surrounding the CBD. We also got a little taste of home at Jack Ruby with mouth watering Buffalo Wings, Cheeseburgers and Onion Rings. We finished our trip with a great dinner at The Apothecary 1878 which had impressive tapas. It was surrounded by strip clubs so don’t let the surrounding environment put you off it, the restaurant embraces that it comes from a less classy part of Adelaide.
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| Adelaide Central Market |
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| Glenerg |
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| Adelaide Zoo |
It was a great trip and nice to see some of what South Australia has to offer. Now we have been to three out of the six states of Australia. We’re half way there with a lot left to see.
My next trip is one that takes me home to Calgary in September. I get two extra weeks holidays than Neal so I am taking advantage of coming home to see my wonderful family and friends for two weeks and to celebrate the marriages of two amazing couples! I can’t wait!!
Take care,
Laur xoxo
