Barossa Valley, SA (Oct 2024)
Taking advantage of a Qantas double status credit promotion earlier in the year, I booked flights to Adelaide and started planning a weekend visiting its nearby wine region. I’ve been to Adelaide a few times and even drove to Mount Gambier once, but had never visited the famous South Australian winery areas. Having heard good things and enjoyed a tipple or two from some of their well known vineyards, it seemed a good idea to plan an adventure to somewhere new. I soon realised there was quite an extensive choice of places to visit and regretted only booking 3 nights away. After a bit of research into the Adelaide Hills, Eden Valley, Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, I determined it was possible to spend a day in the Barossa and a day in McLaren Vale. The hard part was working out where to stay and which vineyards to visit due to the abundance of choice!
Getting to the Barossa
We caught a Friday afternoon flight departing Sydney at 4pm and two hours later, arrived in Adelaide. Not wasting any time, with hand luggage only we managed to find our way outside to the pick-up spot where we met our East Coast rental car shuttle bus, thanks to the very easy to follow instructions they provided.
Soon after, we were at the car rental depot, completing all the paperwork (which I always wonder why is so necessary considering all the info provided at time of booking). I was handed the keys to our little blue Suzuki Swift and we stowed our light hand luggage in the hatchback and got on our way.
My trusty iphone’s GPS navigated us out of Adelaide, and we watched the sun setting towards our left as we headed northbound up the freeway towards the Barossa Valley. Momentarily I marvelled about how few cars were about, considering it was the start of a long weekend. Then we settled into the hour’s drive listening to music and chatting. My GPS told us to exit off the freeway at the outskirts of the Barossa. There, we found ourselves on a quiet road in pitch black conditions with no street lights. After passing very few cars coming the other direction and noticing nobody was behind us, I started to get a little concerned when we turned onto an unsealed road. Had we taken a wrong turn? No, I knew we were heading in the right direction, and convinced Steve we were in the right area, reminding him (and perhaps myself) I had booked a resort in a remote countryside area (Rowland Flat) for our 2 nights in the Barossa. In any case I slowed right down, worried about hitting local wildlife, or worse, a pothole. From my day job in the insurance sector, I knew rental car insurance did not extend to driving on unsealed roads. After about 10 mins, with relief we spotted a sign which signalled we had arrived at the resort.
Accommodation: Novotel Barossa Valley Resort
We checked in at the Novotel resort around 7.30pm. As we hadn’t had any dinner yet, and noticing the busy restaurant nearby, I asked what time it closed. The nice young lady at reception said they stopped taking orders at 8pm and recommended I go and reserve a table straight away if we wanted to eat there; the only other option being room service. I was hesitant to book a table and instead grabbed a menu and headed to our room to drop our bags, freshen up and decide what to do about dinner.
Our room was lovely, very spacious and nicely decorated with a small kitchenette just inside the doorway, complete with a Nespresso coffee pod machine. If only we had thought to pick up food along the way, though I didn’t recall seeing any service stations or other places to stop. Thankfully, we’d had some snacks earlier in the afternoon at the Qantas Club and also some cheese & crackers on the plane so we weren’t really hungry. However being ‘on holiday’ I fancied a drink and something to eat. I soon realised the downside of booking accommodation in the middle of nowhere – I didn’t feel like navigating that dark, unsealed road again in search of a local town for more options. It seemed like a good idea when I booked, after seeing reviews about the amazing views. Not that we could see anything at this dark hour. After perusing the fancy looking restaurant and room service menus, and observing the prices, we decided to just head to the bar inside the restaurant to get a drink and hope there might be some bar snacks available.
Turned out to be a good decision. Not only did the bar have a good little menu of bar food, including some hot snacks, the bar food was available until 9pm. We ordered a couple of drinks (Steve opting for a beer and me, a Gin&Tonic, knowing we had a weekend of wine tasting ahead) and decided to share some salt & pepper calamari, which was delicious. Not ready to retire yet and still a little peckish, we ordered another round of drinks and a plate of jamon and pickles. Then we sat chatting at the high table near the bar, watching some of the other guests seated around us. By 10pm, although relatively early by our usual routine, it had seemed like a long, tiring day so we decided to wander back to our room to hit the sack.
After a good night’s sleep, the next morning we awoke to overcast, grey skies but despite that – the view out of our patio window was lovely. Green hills as far as we could see, with some vines in the distance and several colourful birds flying around. Since I had a busy day planned with lots to fit in, plus we had no food for breakfast, we didn’t linger too long. By 8.15am we were dressed and ready to go. We jumped in the Suzuki rental car, to head up the road to start our day of adventuring.
Tanunda for breakfast and some visitor tips
My research had informed me Tanunda was a popular little town in the heart of the Barossa. However I wasn’t prepared for the short scenic drive there and was amazed at the number and size of all the vineyards we passed, with some well known brands on sign posts, like Jacobs Creek. It became clear this was a very large wine region. Again I realised my mistake in only planning one day here.
As we entered the town, we happily remarked to each other what a cute country town it was, with an arty feel and such sweet looking, historic buildings.
I’d read about a couple of cafes in town with decent coffee. We parked up near one, Darlings Cafe, however it was a cool morning and as they had no seating inside we decided it was too chilly to sit at one of their tables outside. We decided to walk up the road to see what else we could find and stumbled across Vino Lokal. They had a few vacant tables inside and on entering I immediately liked the vibe of the place with its gorgeous decor, art deco mirrors and furnishings, and velvet covered chairs. Before long I was hoeing into my breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, which was delicious, although slightly regretting I didn’t also choose a freshly baked friand sitting on a tray on the counter. The only downside was unfortunately their coffee was a bit to weak for our liking. Still we agreed we would definitely come again and according to the signage, it looked like they were open on Fridays and Saturdays until late, operating as a wine bar, with a dinner menu and music. We remarked that if we come back to the Barossa again, next time we will stay in town and perhaps come here for dinner.
After breakfast we walked further up the main street to the Barossa Visitor Information Centre. Having had success a few years ago on our visit to the Swan Valley, WA, with great recommendations from their visitor centre, we decided to stop in. Immediately we were greeted by a fellow named Adam. He was lovely, asking if we needed any help, enquiring what our plans were that day. I shared the list of wineries and loose route I’d planned and he pulled out a map and started plotting them for us. When I mentioned Hentley Farm, he remarked “good choice” and asked if we’d booked, adding that they get very busy. When I said no, he said there was a good chance if we called as soon as they opened at 10am, they could probably squeeze us in but we would be risking it if we simply turned up. This turned out to be very good advice. He marked out our other chosen destinations on the map, we chatted a while, then we left to try another place up the road which he insisted had good coffee. Unfortunately he turned out to be wrong on that front. I was beginning to think we were the problem – they can’t all make bad coffee?! We headed back towards the car, again observing there didn’t seem to be many people about, considering it was a long weekend. Admiring more lovely old buildings in the town along the way, I noticed the huge FruChoc shop which to my disappointment wasn’t open yet. Then we jumped in the car to continue on our Barossa Valley self-drive tour.
Menglers Hill Lookout Sculpture Park
As many winery cellar doors don’t open until 10 or 11am, our first destination was the Menglers Hill lookout point about a 10 minute drive from Tanunda. We drove past more vineyards, then the scenery changed to trees and light bushland as we headed up hill. Shortly after, we arrived at the lookout with a few sculptures dotted nearby. It started raining at this point, so we didnt get out of the car for long. I took a few photos, before jumping back in the car to continue admiring the views from the warmth inside.
Before leaving, as it had just gone 10am, I telephoned Hentley Farm to see if they could squeeze us in. To our good fortune, they said they could if we came at 11am. It threw a slight change to the order of my itinerary however it was easily adjusted thanks to the close proximity of the places I had planned to visit that day.
Seppeltsfield Road
If you visit the Barossa Valley, you absolutely must take a drive down Seppeltsfield Road. That’s where we headed next. After a short drive back down the hill from the lookout, we soon found ourselves on the famous date palm lined Seppeltsfield Road. I was surprised how long it went for, and how many date palms there were. We passed a few more small vineyards, a mausoleum on the hill, more and more date palms, then ended up at the Seppeltsfield winery. I wasn’t planning on stopping here long, just enough time for a quick look around. It was about 10.30am and we didn’t fancy wine tasting yet plus had our booking for 11am. We parked up in their car park among some lovely looking old buildings, admired the nearby vines, observing the signs asking people not to walk among them as this can damage the vines, and then grabbed a piccolo latte from the nearby cafe (which turned out to be great coffee!). Next we were back in the car heading for Hentley Farm winery, about a 5 minute drive around the corner.
Hentley Farm, Seppeltsfield
Not too sure what I was expecting, but given the reaction from Adam at the visitor centre it sounded popular. I was familiar with Hentley Farm wines thanks to a wine tasting at home organised through work during Covid lockdown. It involved samples being sent out to us and we were led through the tasting online. I had enjoyed the wines I tasted although recalled they were more expensive than our usual quaffing wine, so hadn’t ended up ordering any. When I was researching the Barossa, everyone was raving about this cellar door so I was excited to see what all the hype was about.
Wow, just Wow! From the moment we arrived the experience was incredible. We were seated at a table for two in a gorgeous little tasting room, in front of a lit fireplace, with only one other table near us which seated 5 and was presently vacant. The room looked really old, with beams on the ceiling, and was beautifully decorated with a cosy feel – perfect on a chilly day like today. Our host was a lovely, friendly lady who offered a menu to choose our tasting option and a complimentary glass of bubbles, which was delicious. We chose the Luxury option at $75 pp, the cheapest was the Premium at $45pp and most expensive was Luxury Museum Tasting at $175pp. Like most wineries, if you purchased wines more than the amount of the tasting, you wouldn’t be charged for the tasting.
Over the next hour, we had two or three different hosts come to our table, bringing each wine for us to taste, and of course a story or some information to go with the wine. They also brought some snacks and lovely fresh bread, and in between each wine they left us alone for just enough time to enjoy and discuss each tasting among ourselves. We learned the room we were in was heritage listed, dating back to the 1800’s. I asked about some of the old items sitting above the fireplace, which they said were original artifacts found in the attic. When they told us the story behind their Clos Otto wine I nearly shed a tear. It was absolutely delicious too, but at $270 a bottle, our budget couldn’t allow us to buy a bottle – although we did purchase a case of mixed wines from the rest of the range we had tried. Fortunately all the wineries deliver interstate, so we didn’t need to worry about carrying it with us.
Two Hands, Marananga
After that impressive start to our wine tasting journey, we remarked to ourselves how on earth could another winery possibly follow that up, such a high bar had been set. Nevertheless, we moved on to another nearby winery which was on my hit-list called Two Hands. I can’t recall why I chose this cellar door. I must have read some good things, like the importance they place on sustainability. The name also reminded me of a great Heath Ledger movie. Plus we always prefer smaller, boutique wineries to the more commercialised ones.
When we arrived, we observed only one car in the carpark and a couple was leaving the small cellar door building which had some cute artwork on its exterior stone wall. We apprehensively walked through the door and a nice young girl who spoke with a heavy accent greeted us and seated us at a nearby table. Similar to our experience at the last cellar door, we were offered a menu which listed the wine tastings available. This time we chose the cheapest option ‘Pride & Place’ at $15 a head.
Here was where things got interesting. After pouring our first glass, our first host disappeared to serve another couple that entered the cellar door and a new young lady appeared. She was stunning to look at, gorgeous long blonde hair and immaculate make-up but something seemed a little odd about her with her big smile and piercing eyes that seemed to bore through us. As she brought each wine and recited the details about the wine, she clearly had an amazing memory and knowledge. But when we started to engage in some idle chat, offering our ‘tasting notes’ about flavours we could taste or if we interrupted her spiel with a remark or the odd joke, it seemed to throw her off kilt, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. It was so remarkable we both thought maybe she was slightly on the spectrum and after we left we couldn’t help giggling a little as we wondered if perhaps the other plausible explanation was that we’d been served by an AI robot. We weren’t knocking her, she was extremely competent and we’d had a pleasant experience, enjoying the wines and information – enough to buy a few bottles to get sent back home including a bottle of their flagship ‘2019 Ares’ at the hefty price of $200 (Clearly I was feeling a bit tipsy when I made that decision). Like I said, it was an interesting experience, in a good way, and probably the only way to follow the prior impressive experience we’d had at Hentley Farm, thanks to being so different.
Langmeil Winery, Tanunda
Next on our list was Langmeil, which I had read was rich in history and understood to be the world’s oldest surviving shiraz vineyard believed to have been planted in 1843 .
The car park was reasonably busy, with a couple of cars just leaving as we arrived at 1:30pm. After we parked up and started to make our way towards the cellar door we paused momentarily, distracted by the gorgeous grounds, with its beautiful landscaping and lovely historical outbuildings housing old equipment. It turned out this was originally part of a small village and the buildings were originally the old butcher, blacksmith etc.
After Steve got his fix, inspecting all the old equipment, eventually we followed the signs pointing towards the cellar door, arriving at another beautifully restored old building. Though just as we got to the door I paused again, this time to admire the wisteria vines hanging across the adjacent pergola.
On entering the cellar door we realised once again we had timed our visit perfectly. Not having a booking, we were lucky they managed to squeeze us in on the last vacant table, next to the bar area. We could see they were a little busy serving a few other small groups already seated, and as we’d already had a few tastings at the prior cellar doors and were starting to feel ‘full’ (plus I was driving), when they asked if we wanted to do the complete flight or just choose a few from the menu to taste, we opted for the latter. Once we got started with our tastings, lots of people started coming inside and we overheard them being asked if they had a booking – when they replied that they didn’t, unlike us, they were told they couldn’t fit them in and so they were invited to come back later. We probably rushed our tastings a bit and the poor hosts really were quite busy so we didn’t spend as long here, only about 40 minutes. Just enough time to select half a dozen wines we’d liked which we purchased and arranged to be delivered home later.
Maggie Beer’s farm shop, Nuriootpa
After three winery visits, we needed a break from wine tasting and I was keen to visit the famous Maggie Beer’s farmhouse. It was now 2.15pm and we had skipped lunch, having had a big breakfast, so I thought perhaps we could have a browse around and maybe have some coffee and cake.
I was slightly apprehensive because I’d heard it gets very busy. When we arrived, the large car park was full of cars and again I wondered if we’d made a mistake coming here. However as we entered, while we could see it was busy, we spotted a few empty places to sit. We had a little wonder around, looking at the produce and souvenirs for sale. Then I decided to order some afternoon tea. The place seemed to have half emptied at that moment so that I was able to walk straight up to the counter without having to queue. I ordered a chai latte and chose a stone fruit and rosemary cake from the selection on display, then found a seat by the window overlooking the dam where we could watch the turtles swimming about. It was lovely and relaxing, and the cake and tea were delicious! After our afternoon tea, we had another browse around and I took a couple of photos of Steve in Maggie’s kitchen, where she normally hosts ‘The Cook and the Chef’ TV show, before deciding to buy a few items to take back. This time I did have to queue though, and it started to get really busy as we left, with lots more people arriving. It seemed our luck that day had continued as we had timed our visit perfectly to avoid most of the crowds. Perhaps the trick was that we had arrived at the end of lunchtime when most people would have just finished lunch, and was a bit earlier than normal afternoon tea time.
Rockford winery
This was our last winery visit and I’d positioned this at the end of the day because it was open until 5pm and on the way back out of Tanunda heading back to our resort at Rowland Flat. We almost missed out though. On our way through Tanunda we stopped to pick up snacks at the supermarket and then I simply had to stop at the FruChocs store on the main street which I’d seen closed earlier that morning and was now open.
By the time we arrived at Rockford at just after 4pm we found ourselves having to wait outside as the tiny cellar door was so busy they couldn’t fit any more people in. It seemed our good luck we’d had all day had run out. They said it would be only a 10 minute wait so we decided to hang around in the courtyard. After 25 minutes went by, we were about to give up and leave, when a man appeared and invited us inside along with another small group. We would be their last customers for the day. More people were arriving after us and were apologetically turned away.
I had to really restrain myself for this tasting, being nervous in case I was getting close to the limit for driving, even though I had been using the spittoons sensibly most of the day. Most of the time I had only tried a few sips and either poured the rest out or if it was particularly nice, Steve had finished off mine. He was getting quite sloshed by now! A nice young man who I was surprised had such knowledge for his young age, took us through our tasting. Once again we enjoyed a few of the wines, along with the information and the occasional comical banter. We ended up selecting another half a dozen to purchase and have sent back home before departing the cellar door.
Saturday night in Tanunda
We made a couple of spur of the minute decisions that evening. Instead of heading straight back to the resort in the middle of nowhere as originally planned, we decided to drive back into town first, to find a bottle shop to buy a nice local wine to take back with us to drink in our room later after dinner at the resort’s restaurant. The small bottle shop we found was like the tardis and we had trouble choosing a wine. Eventually we decided on a red from a local winery which we hadn’t visited (making a mental note to visit them next time)
Then, when we were in town, we remembered we had earlier driven past a quirky 50’s Diner, so we decided to stay in town and eat there. We thoroughly enjoyed our greasy burgers and shakes, surrounded by memorabilia and listening to Elvis on the jukebox. Plans are good to have, but sometimes the best experiences are found on a whim.
We left as the sun was setting, noticing a nice looking restaurant across the road called ‘1918’, way more upmarket than where we’d just been, with a delicious looking menu. One for another time, on another visit.
Eventually we made it back to the resort, shattered after our big day. We had squeezed in a lot so spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our room watching TV and drinking the wine I’d bought, before retiring early again. We had another early start the next morning. We would be checking out of this resort and driving across to McLaren Value via Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. I’ll write about that day trip in a separate post – check back later if you want to read about it.
Our visit to the Barossa Valley had sadly come to an end and we’d already decided without a doubt, we will definitely return again.
My tips
Car rental – I almost always book using Holiday Autos. Make sure to check t’s and c’s whoever you use. I alway make sure its unlimited mileage and try to look for free additional drivers although the latter is quite rare to find these days. Also, if you come across a rental company you haven’t seen before, check the reviews. I’ve tried 2 new companies recently and while I was hesitant to deviate from the well known ones like Hertz, Avis, etc, both the new options I tried turned out to be really good with great service and saving me lots.
Use the spittoons – you don’t have to forego tastings if you are driving and if you simply want to enjoy the day without getting too sloshed, just be sensible. Make sure you space out the tastings, drink plenty of water and eat too. Use the spittoons – they are there for a reason. Although they pour only small amounts in your glass, you still don’t have to drink it all.
Bookings recommended – at the more popular cellar doors, bookings are highly advisable to avoid being disappointed, especially if visiting on a weekend. We witnessed first hand people being turned away at Langmeil and Rockford. People apparently come from all over the world to visit Langmeil, the home of the oldest shiraz vineyard. Imagine the disappointment to be turned away. We were very lucky we didn’t miss out.
Visit the Visitor centre – even if you have done some research, it’s good to get some first hand tips from a local or at least some verification of your choices. Call into the local tourist office/visitor centre and it will enhance your visit. At the very least you will get a hard copy of a map which might come in handy if your phone runs out of battery or loses cell range.