21 November 2024
After five days on the Yorke Peninsula (the highlight being catching up with the Kalbarri Crowd in Moonta for 3 nights) we headed north of Adelaide to Clare — jewel of the Clare Valley. While the Yorke Peninsula had been nice (if not a little sleepy), we were keen to spend some time in a more ‘sophisticated’ area i.e. more things to do and a better variety of food and drink.
Clare Valley
The highlight of our time in the Clare Valley was a trip to Sevenhill Cellars. There is so much history here, with the Jesuits arriving in 1848 after fleeing religious persecutions in Central Europe. Upon finding the beautiful rolling hills of the Clare Valley, they purchased 100 acres of land to establish their Mission, naming the property Sevenhill in honour of the seven hills of Rome.
This was our first wine tasting since the Margaret River region in Southwest WA, and it didn’t take us long to find our feet again (something about riding a bike). After the tasting we were encouraged to (and did) a self-guided walk around the grounds, including the impressive church and crypt beneath.
Lunch at the Sevenhill Hotel (nothing to do with Sevenhill Cellars, as the town is named Sevenhill) was also pretty good too.
Barossa Valley
After three nights in Clare, we headed to Nuriootpa — a very strangely named town which is one of the main urban centres of the Barossa Valley (along with nearby Tanunda). After a brief stroll around Tanunda, we were drawn to (and into) a 50’s Diner. I had one of the best hot dogs I’ve had in a long time and chased it down with a chocolate thick shake so big, thick and cold it was nearly the end of me.
After a rest day in the absolutely lovely BIG4 Barossa Tourist Park, we started our wine tour with A Wine Wagon. This is where things kicked up a gear in terms of the ‘wining’ bit — and ‘dining’ as it turned out too.
Nicole and I shared a fantastic salmon and cream cheese bagel at the Barossa Farmer’s Market, our first stop. On entering we walked past a band of seniors with various stringed instruments playing It’s a Small World (After AlI), which I’m now trying to erase from my memories of this trip.
We visited four great wineries:
- Ubertas Wines, established by Philip and Kevin Liu who grew up on a family farm in Taiwan (rice and bamboo fields), then moved to Australia with their family in the early 2000’s to become winemakers.
- Reillys II Cellar Door Greenock, a cellar door offshoot in the Barossa Valley from the original Reillys Winery in Mintaro (Clare Valley).
- Lambert Estate Wines, established by Jim Lambert (worked for NASA I believe) who discovered the Barossa on a business trip in the 1980s. His son, Kirk, studied wine making in Adelaide where he met and fell in love with fellow student Vanesa — from Peru. Vanesa’s Peruvian background has a strong influence on the menu, which we sampled for our lunch. The food was absolutely amazing, especially the Tequeños (deep fried cheese in pastry served with guacamole) which were to die for!!
- Calabria Family Wines Tasting Room which, although they have a vineyard in the Barossa Valley, make all their wines in Griffith, NSW. Nicole and I visited Calabria Wines on our trip to Griffith (where Mum was born) at the very end of 2023, where we were fortunate to meet Bill Calabria who now owns the business — and who was cleaning the front entrance with a leaf blower when we arrived and proceeded to have a nice chat with us.
This tour was very, very good, with all the cellar doors being very flexible with what we could taste, and often a second taste if we couldn’t quite make our mind up. Nicole and I started buying a few bottles to take with us at the first two wineries, then at Lambert Estate decided to go ‘next level’ and get some shipped home by them — for free! Over the next few weeks, Katelyn is going to be receiving some first-hand evidence of how much we enjoyed the Barossa Valley.
And, to top everything off, our driver from the tour delivered us to our site within the caravan park. While not necessary, it was definitely very much appreciated. Three other women on the tour who had already had a big one the night before, were busily trying to commission the driver as a personal driver for later in the evening to get them to and from their favourite wine bar. Could get very messy …
The next day we looked at (but didn’t buy) overpriced chocolate at Barossa Valley Chocolate Company, did a ‘quick and dirty’ cheese tasting at Barossa Cheese in Greenock, and had a wonderful chocolate with salted caramel ice-cream at Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop.
And we had one final winery to visit. While working at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in the mid-1990’s, Nicole and I met Brett and Kylie Hayes who also worked there. They now own and run Hayes Family Wines, so Nicole and I just had to visit. And we’re so glad we did.
While Brett and Kylie were in Brisbane at the time, Steve (their customer service person and wine expert) took us through a wonderful wine tasting session where he showed us the different regions they grow in within the Barossa, along with the different wines. The wines were absolutely amazing, and Katelyn will find this out first-hand very soon too, as another wine delivery arrives home.
Hahndorf (Adelaide Hills)
Continuing with the ‘wining and dining theme’, while visiting Hahndorf (a beautiful town in the Adelaide Hills with strong German heritage) we just had to try a proper German meal. During a wander down the main street earlier in the day I’d seen the size of the meals, so had a very, very light lunch in preparation. We made the 1.2 km walk from our caravan park to the German Arms, ready to tackle a German dinner (and beer).
Nicole ordered the Roast Pork (with veges), while I ordered the Slow-roasted Crispy Pork Hock (with mash, sauerkraut, red cabbage, German mustards and gravy). My meal was absolutely enormous and, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t quite make it all the way through it — but I got close. And the Hofbräu Weissbier (wheat beer) I had with it really set the meal off. Nicole thoroughly enjoyed her meal and beer too.
So, we’ve both thoroughly enjoyed our ‘wining and dining’ experiences in the Clare and Barossa Valleys, plus the Adelaide Hills, however I’m not sure how things will go with Friday Weigh-in tomorrow though …
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