Friendly locals and amazing food and wine make the Barossa Valley a gourmet’s dream

WORDS CAROLINE MCCONNACHIE
PHOTOGRAPHY NIALL MCCONNACHIE

I planned a weekend in the Barossa Valley wine region, I had visions of beautiful scenery, food, wine, more food and yet more wine – the last thing I expected was to be wearing a lab coat and standing in front of a set of beakers. But at Penfolds (Tanunda Rd, Nuriootpa, tel: + 61 (8) 9568 9408), you can get as hands-on as you like: the make-your-own-blend course (AU$45) plonks you in front of three wine varieties: grenache, shiraz and mourvedre – aka GSM – and helps you mix them into something drinkable.

Sunset, Barossa Valley
Photo: Tourism Australia/Adam Bruzzone

I leave two hours later, light-headed, with a bit more grape knowledge, and clutching the alcoholic fruit of my labour. It’s the first day and the first stop of the long weekend, following a quick one-hour drive from Adelaide airport.

Students at the ‘Make Your
Own Blend’ course at
Penfolds WineryIn need of lunch, my husband and I head into nearby Tanunda, a small, pretty place that’s very well-kept. I’m tempted by the icecream parlour selling shiraz and chardonnay flavours, but we head instead to Apex Bakery (Elizabeth St, Tanunda, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 2483), where the 1924 wood-fired oven turns out super Cornish pasties and traditional German cakes. Holding court in front of the historic furnace is Nipper: anyone can join him for lunch, he says, “as long as they BYO.” As I leave, he shouts out: “Make sure you drink plenty of wine!” No problems there: I’ll give it my best shot! A quick stop at Fig next door (90 Murray St, Tanunda, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 0990) for a great coffee, and we’re fortified for the rest of the day.

Our afternoon is spent wine-tasting at Château Tanunda Estate (9 Basedow Rd, Tanunda, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 3888), which looks like something out of a fairytale: a battlemented stone house, formal gardens, croquet field and cricket pitch, no less. Inside, the cellar door stocks the château’s fine offerings, as well as a selection from more than 30 of Barossa’s small wine-makers.

Shiraz grapes from
Rockford
Winery.All that swirling, sniffing and sipping works up quite an appetite, and we’re lured from the château to the sensational 1918 Bistro and Grill (94 Murray St, Tanunda, tel: +61 (8) 8563 0405) for dinner, washed down with a bottle of Charlie Melton’s Father-inLaw Shiraz. The day ends under crisp sheets at the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort (Golf Links Rd, Rowland Flat, tel: + 61 (8) 8524 0000). Sadly, we feel far too indolent to take advantage of the activities on offer – archery, golf, tennis, swimming, more tastings anyone? – though a “nourishing” red wine bath from the resort’s Endota Spa is an appealing option!

Next morning, we high-tail it to the Barossa Valley Farmers’ Market (Vintner’s Shed, cnr Stockwell and Nuriootpa rds, Angaston) at the unearthly hour of 8am – the market might be open till 11.30am every Saturday, but all the good stuff sells quickly! The star attraction for me is Carême Pastry (tel: +61 (8) 8563 1490), a sexy outfit selling chocolate fantasy friands, croissants and decadent tarts; their pastry is even used by Sydney fine-diner Aria Restaurant. Co-owner Claire Wood tells me, “I know this sounds corny, but we really do live in a Garden of Eden: the produce is second to none.” Mouths full, we don’t need to be convinced of the Barossa’s status as a foodie paradise!

Pastry urges sated, it’s on to Angaston, a quieter town which is home to the great Blond Coffee (60 Murray St, Angaston, tel: +61 (8) 8564 3444) and an artisan dairy, Barossa Valley Cheese Company (67B Murray St, Angaston, tel: +61 (8) 8564 3636). Picking up their fantastic cheese pack to enjoy with our vinous purchases later, we go on to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop (Pheasant Farm Rd, Nurioopta, tel: + 61 (8) 8562 4477), which has a delicious menu and cellar door. Order a picnic basket, take a seat outside by the duck and turtle pond and you’ll be wondering why you don’t come to the Barossa every weekend!

Lunch at Maggie Beer’s

Pheasant Farm Cafe

The western side of the valley is a great place to meander away an afternoon. We visit Two Hands Wines (Neldner Rd, Marananga, tel: + 61 (8) 8562 4566, AU$5 tasting fee), a boutique winery that sources grapes locally and interstate, making it an ideal stop to compare regional flavours. Then it’s on to nearby Torbreck, ranked highly by the nation’s sommeliers as well as by wine guru Robert Parker (Lot 51, Roennfeldt Rd, Marananga, tel: + 61 (8) 8562 4155, AU$5 tasting fee): we have the rare opportunity of trying premium AU$200 wines! Our western trip finishes at Seppelt Winery on Seppeltsfield Road (tel: + 61 (8) 8568 6217), and a taste of some of its wonderful fortifieds.

You wouldn’t think it, but we need a break from wine: fortunately it’s a quick drive to sleepy Greenock and The Barossa Brewing Company (Mill St, Greenock, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 4041) for a beer or two. The way jovial owners Darryl Trinne and Gaye Wiegand tell it, the company is the end result of them becoming “beer snobs”: one day they were drinking any label, the next, they were flying to Sydney every few months to replenish their home supply from their favourite brewer. It has three terrific beers to taste, all additive- and preservative-free – Trinne comments that the dark ale can be cellared like a wine. The cellar door is only open on weekends, but the beers are on tap at the Greenock Creek Tavern all week long.

We choose the Mediterranean-inspired Salter’s Kitchen at Saltram’s cellar door (Nuriootpa Rd, Angaston, tel: +61 (8) 8561 0200) for dinner, then it’s off to the Abbotsford Country House (Yaldara Dve, Lyndoch, tel: +61 (8) 8524 4662) for the night.

Pastoral views from
Abbotsford Country House

Our last day begins at Rockford Winery (Krondorf Rd, Tanunda, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 2720), which draws the famous and not-so-famous for its knockout wines made with traditional methods. Nova FM host Merrick Watts nominates Rockford as his all-time favourite winery; The Whitlams frontman Tim Freedman often has a bottle on stage; and cricketing royalty, in the form of Richie Benaud and Matthew Hayden, often drops by. And while most of the visitors leave Rockford’s Jenny O’Callaghan unfazed, she was blown away by one Hollywood diva: “You wouldn’t have known it was Bette Midler,” O’Callaghan says. “She had on jeans, her hair was in a ponytail and she wore glasses.”

Matt showing the

traditional methods

used at Rockford

WineryWe pop next door to the cellar door of wild Argentine Albert Di Palma, Villa Tinto (Krondorf Rd, Tanunda, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 3044). Filling my glass, Di Palma asks if I have children. No. “Well, I hope you’re practising,” he says cheekily, and winks at my husband. Another party exits with a case of his hearty reds: he asks the sober one, “You the driver?” and tells the others, “You remember to buy him a good dinner, okay?” It’s this trademark larger-than-life customer service, along with the unique wines, that keeps punters coming back.

Up the road is Kabminye Wines and Krondorf Road Café (Krondorf Rd, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 0889), the creation of architect Richard Glastonbury and his wife Ingrid, from the Henschke wine-making family. He makes the wine, she oversees the German-influenced food, and upstairs their artist daughter, Ilona, curates exhibitions. We go for a wine-tasting, but it takes all our might to resist their heavenly cakes!

Bethany Wines (cnr Bethany and Light Pass rds, Tanunda, tel: + 61 (8) 8563 2086) is our last stop, perched on a hill overlooking the valley. Despite its swag of awards, this cellar door is very down-to-earth. We chat to wine-maker Geoff Schrapel, a fifth-generation Barossa resident, about the region’s heritage. Many places are still in the hands of the founding German families, which “has its good points and bad points” he says. He laughs, “Everyone’s looking over your shoulder!” Among his current wines, his favourites are the cabernet merlot and, of course, his award-winning GR6 Reserve Shiraz 1998: “It ripened nice and slowly, has fine tannins and is fruit driven.” That night at home, I sip my own blended GSM, and appreciate the Barossa’s bounty even more.