Gateway to Fleurieu Peninsula
South Australia’s McLaren Vale boasts premium wines and gourmet local fare.
McLaren Vale is a premium wine-growing region known for its Shiraz, and it’s the gateway to the Fleurieu Peninsula, where the vineyards extend almost to the beaches.
Visiting some of its more than 70 mostly boutique wineries is something of a pilgrimage for my friend Jim and me, birthplaces of our favorite Aussie whites that love the sea breeze and the big reds created by winemakers such as d’Arenberg, Wirra Wirra and Samuel’s Gorge, whose rustic cellar was an 1853 olive-press house.
Wineries, in everything from historic cellars to modern structures, are scattered along dusty roads here, where you unexpectedly come across painters’ and potters’ studios in old stone cottages or roadside stands selling fresh dried fruit, multicolored potatoes, kiwis and protea flowers.
There’s an ever-growing collection of small new wineries such as Alpha Box & Dice, which is run by talented young guns who produce small-batch vintages in a converted stable complete with pinball machines and a stuffed armadillo.
Some wineries offer local specialty platters to accompany tastings, while others have outdoor patio restaurants and offer accommodations among the vines.
Coriole Vineyards’ tasting room is in an 1860 ironstone barn. It hosts an annual music festival (May 7 and 8) and a Shakespeare in the Vines event (Jan. 24). Bring your own blanket;
there is plenty of wine on hand.
On Saturday morning we headed to the Willunga
Farmers Market (www.willungafarmersmarket.com ), South Australia’s first and perhaps its best, a cheerfully lively affair with local producers’ and artists’ booths selling everything from wild scallops to pasture-fed Yankaponga lamb.
The market’s motto rings true: “Meet the grower and taste the region.” Willunga is one of a dozen or so charming heritage towns across the peninsula and is known for its gourmet eateries; even the classic old Aussie pub, the Hotel McLaren, is well stocked with local micro-brews and serves creative gastro-pub fare.
As the sun headed for the horizon, we settled our saltand sand-encrusted bodies on the cliff-top deck of the Star of Greece at Port Willunga overlooking a beach dotted with surf fishermen.
Once a 1950s bait and tackle shop, it’s now a deluxe beach shack serving contemporary Australian cuisine with a menu heavily populated with local seafood such as King George whiting and Kangaroo Island lobster, seafood so fresh that one food writer claimed “rigor mortis had not even set in.”