At last – a reasonable night’s kip after the purgatory of the train.
We’d booked a winery tour. Not the usual one up the Barossa Valley, but one in the McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide, simply because a) it was different b) quite a number of people had recommended it as prettier and more interesting from a winery point of view.
We were picked up by Steve (www.cellardoortours.com.au) and with a supporting cast of four other people, made our way down to this area. It is full of wineries, not many of which are well-known, but boy, did we sample some great wines. We visited four wineries in all – Steve really knows his way around – and enjoyed it immensely, not least because of the company. A young lady called Bridget was particularly good value, as she was very bouncy and enthusiastic.
Each winery had at the very least eight types of wine to sample, so by midday the mood was, to say the least, mellow, and got better (for me, anyway) as the day wore on. A very good lunch was included also. Steve kept us entertained with stories and descriptions of the various areas of the country we were passing through. On a more cynical note, the amount of bullshit spoken and written about these wines was at least on a par with any European winery that I have visited! I mean – who really picks up tar and leather flavours in a wine??
For the record, the wineries were Olivers Taranga, Zerella, Hugo and Graham Stevens. We ended up buying a total of five bottles which we are going to have to finish off before we fly to Hobart in a few days as otherwise we will be over the weight limit (sigh…..)
List of wines tasted at Olivers Taranga
Modest frontage of Zerellas
Bought some very nice late harvest Sauvignon Blanc at Hugos
Graham Stevens (77) kept us entertained. Left with a belting $10 red wine, a lovely sparkling Grenache Brut and a fantastic fortified Shiraz.
All in all, a really interesting day. Went to bed tired, but happy!
Travel Adventures 
Leave a Reply