WINE COUNTRY
The Barossa Valley in South Australia is a wine lover’s paradise
One great reason to travel to Adelaide in South Australia this winter is that the city plays host to one of the three major gay festivals in Oz. Feast Festival, held every November, kicks off with a Pride march and goes on to showcase the region’s best cabaret, film, sports, and even boasts its own mini Bearstock.
When you’ve had your fill of queer-themed events, your thoughts might turn to another of the major attractions in South Australia, something that has made the region world famous – wine. Of the three winemaking areas here – McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Barossa Valley – the Barossa is easily the best known and is most conveniently set up for a few days of touring and tasting.
An hour’s drive north east of Adelaide, the Barossa enjoys a Mediterranean climate where grapes ripen easily, something the German settlers recognised when they planted vines in the 1830s. Renowned for its Shiraz, the valley is now home to such greats of Australian winemaking as Wolf Blass (with its state-of-the-art facility), Penfolds (leave with your own special blend) and Jacob’s Creek (where you can picnic by the creek where William Jacob originally settled in 1840). But what makes the Barossa a wine traveller’s paradise is the array of boutique wineries, with over 80 cellar doors for tasting and buying direct.
Coming into the valley, you pass through villages as diversely named as Greenock and Nuriootpa (an Aboriginal word for meeting place). Marananga was originally named Gnadenfrei by the early settlers – it means “freed by the grace of God” in German but the name was changed during WWl – and its Lutheran church still stands on the main road. If you’re there on a Tuesday night you can listen to the local brass band rehearse.
Here, with sweeping views across the Barossa from its hilltop site, you’ll also find The Louise. The water feature at the entrance gives you some idea of owner Jim Carreker’s uncompromising approach to excellence in hospitality, containing as it does some 28,000 glass pieces, many of them hand blown at Adelaide glass studio, the Jam Factory. You won’t find a more comfortable base from which to explore the valley, boasting hideaway suites and the beacon of fine dining, Appellation, where chef Ryan Edwards creates a daily five-course Tasting Menu to pair with distinctive Barossa wines. You probably won’t have to introduce yourself to director of food and
beverage Peter Little, because as well as carefully developing Appellation’s impressive cellar, he works the room, chatting with guests and dispensing advice on the best places to go.
The Louise is the kind of place you never want to leave. There’s hand-blown glass sculpture in every suite, touch-of-a-button controls for every gadget imaginable, spa baths with stylish outdoor shower annexes and breakfast brought to the door in silver tiffin boxes – a cheese and tomato tartlet one morning, honey-baked peaches with toasted almonds another.
If you can drag yourself away, there are scenic driving trails to follow, criss-crossing the strawcoloured hills. Be prepared to go “off piste” as many of the wineries are tucked away down dusty tracks.
One of The Louise’s nearest neighbours is Whistler Wines and I tasted their Reserve Semillon with dinner. It’s a scenic little spot with corrugated iron sculptures dotted around the grounds and a mini-zoo.
Tucked away on nearby Neldner Road is Two Hands, who are proprietor Michael Twelftree and winemaker Matt Wenk. Starting its first vintage in 2000 with just 17 tonnes of fruit, by 2010 it had made Wine Spectator’s top 100 eight years running. The premium Picture Series is packaged under names such as Gnarly Dudes Shiraz, Yesterday’s Hero Grenache and Fly By Nighters Vintage Port. While away the hours tasting the lot on Two Hands’ shady terrace.
Torbreck on Roennfeldt Road, near Marananga, is named after the Scottish forest where founder Dave Powell worked as a lumberjack to raise funds to pursue his favourite hobby, visiting European wineries. His wines are equally evocative – Highland Fling and The Laird (Shiraz), Runrig (a Shiraz Viognier) and The Pict (Mataro).
Rolf Binder, a Hungarian immigrant who arrived in 1950 with his Austrian wife Franziska, began a dynasty of fine winemakers. In 1955 they bought a winery and named it Veritas, and it’s now run by son Rolf and daughter Christa Deans. Renamed Rolf Binder Wines, it’s on the corner of Stelzer and Seppeltsfield Roads. Top reds include the impressive Hanisch Shiraz, the finer Heysen Shiraz and cult wines Bulls Blood, or Hubris.
For a heritage experience the Seppeltsfield Winery, built in 1851 and located on the palmlined Seppeltsfield Road, is a must. The Seppelt family were significant players in the Barossa’s early history and the land features some of the country’s oldest and most beautifully gnarled vines, while a tasting might include the 100-yearold Para Vintage Tawny. Just down the road is the family mausoleum.
A favourite among aficionados is picturesque Rockfords on Krondorf Road, where traditional methods and equipment produce rich, soft, earthy wines. The 2010 Basket Press Shiraz is produced with small parcels of old, dry grown Barossa Shiraz from nearly 30 of the valley’s finest grape growing families. The wine is hand made using equipment from the turn of the last century, then aged in American and French wood for two years. This all contributes to making the highest quality traditional soft deep coloured earthy Australian red wine that will bottle age. I also try the famous Black Shiraz, a fizzy red that tastes sublime.
Also on Krondorf is Charles Melton, a delightful place to stop for lunch on the veranda overlooking the vines. Charlie is one of the Barossa’s characters and his motherlode wine is the Rhone-style Nine Popes, a Shiraz/ Grenache/ Mataro blend named as an Ausssie twist on Chateauneuf du Pape (he thought the name meant “home of the nine Popes”). His Rose of Virginia, named after his wife, is one of Australia’s
“If you can drag yourself away, there are scenic driving trails to follow, CrIss-CrOssING tHE strAw-COLOurED HILLs”
best dry rosés, while a new wine is the Father in Law, a smooth, muscular Shiraz made with fruit sourced from Virginia’s father.
As for Barossa whites, the Eden Valley Riesling is a world-class white that’s crisp and citrusy, and Mount Adam, its imposing entrance gates flanked by stone eagles on High Eden Road, is home to Australia’s oldest Chardonnay.
Aside from the wineries there’s lots to explore and the winding trails can reveal unexpected sights – a cemetery in the midst of the bush, a railway crossing in the middle of nowhere or a sudden panorama at the top of a winding route. That’s how I found the sculpture park on Mengler Hill, near Tanunda. Arriving just in time for sunset, the half-light may be the best time to view the art, which is a bit hit and miss.
Anyone looking to stretch their legs after a morning’s tasting should head to Kaiserstuhl Conservation Park, near Tanunda. It’s a good place to spot kangaroos, particularly in the early morning. There’s also the wonder of Australian nature, with seed pods a constant marvel. Another walk makes a circuit of a gold rush mountain, where you can still look down into mine shafts dug by desperate prospectors in the 1860s. The mountain is a warren of old shafts so the path has been very carefully routed so you don’t drop down one unexpectedly. At one end of the Barossa Valley’s reservoir, I also found a curved dam nicknamed the Whispering Wall because what is whispered by someone at one end is crystal clear to anyone at the other.
While you’re out and about, don’t miss an opportunity to visit Maggie Beer’s place. She’s a big name in food here with cookery books, TV shows and a whole live-work-cook philosophy to her name. She and her husband have a farm and café not far from The Louise and it’s a nibbler’s paradise with jams, chutneys, olives, oils and fruit all set out to sample. Maggie presses her own olive oil, and makes Verjuice, too, a gentle acidulate made from the juice of unripened grapes. It heightens the flavour of any food it is added to. As Maggie says, “When in doubt, add more Verjuice!” She runs courses so you can learn how to cook with it.
Talking of food, dinner back at The Louise does not disappoint, and the menu echoes the traditions transplanted to the Barossa by its settlers from Silesia, but has evolved to reflect contemporary lifestyles and utilise the best of local produce, as well as the restaurant’s own kitchen garden. During my stay the menu featured rare breast of Eden Valley pigeon, pickled Satsuma plums and black rice; line caught South Australian snapper, roasted shallots, thyme and red wine sauce; and Fillet of Coorong Angus beef, beetroot puree, peas and lardons.
Ryan very kindly parted with one of his recipes so you can try this at home. Just go to www. pridelife.co.uk/thelouise . You might have a problem getting the Eden Valley duck through customs. Wine, however, is another matter…