South Australia is deservedly known as the “Wine Capital of Australia.”
The State produces 70% of Australia’s exported wines, is home to 17 different wine regions including the Barossa and Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Coonawara, and has over 300 cellar doors including world famous names like Jacob’s Creek, Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Peter Lehmann.
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Food, Wine & Culinary Tours in South Australia
BAROSSA EPICURIAN TOURS offers personally tailored wine tours showcasing the best of the Barossa, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley. All tours include both well known estates as well as small family run boutique wineries offering internationally acclaimed, award winning wines and regional food. Departures are from Adelaide or the Barossa with flexible pick up and drop offs. www.barossatours.com.au
LIFE IS A CABERNET specialises in customised, guided wine tours in the premier wine growing regions of the Barossa, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale. Tours are tailored to budget, taste and interest and can include Kangaroo Island, famed for both its wine as well as its wildlife. www.lifeisacabernet.com.au
WINERY TOURS AT PENFOLDS MAGILL ESTATE – One of Australia’s most famous historic working wineries, just 15 minutes from the centre of Adelaide, operates a selection of guided, behind the scenes tours. The daily “Heritage Tour” includes the Bluestone Vintage Cellar where Penfolds Grange and Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz are made. A tutored tasting session of six Penfolds wines takes place in the Still House. The “Great Grange Tour” takes an exclusive look around the original Penfold family home built in 1845 where guests taste six Penfolds Super Premium Wines and Penfolds’ 20-year-old Bluestone Tawny from the barrel. www.penfolds.com
BAROSSA DAIMLER TOURS offers luxury, small group, behind the scenes wine tours incorporating first class tastings of 26 premium wines including the remarkable 100 year old Para Liqueur Tawny (Liquid History). Not normally open to the public, Kalimna Vineyard is home to Shiraz grapes used in the world renowned Penfolds Grange, as well as the famous ‘Block 42’ Cabernet Sauvignon vines thought to be the oldest in the world (1880s). All tours are conducted by a knowledgeable local wine guide in a 1962 Majestic Major Daimler.
The “Luxury Liquid Tour” visits a number of renowned wineries with highlights that include a private tasting at Penfolds Barossa Winery, first class wine tasting at Wolf Blass Visitor Centre, structured wine tasting at Saltram Estate, a winery and museum tour at Seppeltsfield plus fortified wine tasting, morning tea, lunch with wine at Salters Restaurant and 20% discount on wines purchased during the day. www.barossadaimlertours.com.au
THE BAROSSA CHEESE AND WINE TRAIL comes from the Barossa Valley Cheese Company in Angaston who sell (A$45) cooler bags containing cheese knife and board, four locally made cheeses, with crackers, and a trail map that matches specific wines to specific cheeses. There are six possible routes to be savoured, each one including five wineries within close proximity. There is also an opportunity to value-add to the bag by purchasing other local produce including olives, pates and chocolates. www.barossacheese.com.au
THE LOUISE, the Barossa’s premier vineyard retreat, offers guests a range of exclusive private “Signature Barossa Experiences” . Nine of the region’s top boutique winemakers open their doors exclusively to the hotel’s overnight guests providing an unparalleled opportunity to meet the families and artisan individuals responsible for making some of Australia’s most prestigious wines whose distribution is limited to small volumes. Each tasting provides a different insight – organic and biodynamic wines, alternate varietals, barrel tasting, specific and inspired food pairing, rustic heritage and old vine. www.thelouise.com.au
FOOD TOURS OF ADELAIDE CENTRAL MARKET – Adelaide’s 135-year-old Central Market is a must for visitors. Mark Gleeson, a respected food expert, conducts guided market tours explaining the huge range of fresh produce featured on 80 plus specialist stalls that attract over 1.3 million visitors per month. Co-owner of the Providore (market stall 66 selling premium gourmet food), Mark has over 25 years’ experience in the hospitality industry and a knowledge of South Australian foods that is second to none.
CELLAR DOOR PASS, the first product of its kind in the world, allows visitors to experience as many as six cellar doors from over 50 participating South Australian wineries located throughout the State, with world famous names including Wolf Blass, Penfolds and Seppelt. The pass enables each card holder to obtain six free bottles of wine with a retail value of A$20, whilst premium wine tastings, tours and special gifts can also be claimed for up to two people. The Cellar Door Pass (A$99) can be purchased from various retail outlets in South Australia (SA) including information centres and online. www.cellardoorpass.com
FROM GRAPE TO GLASS, a tour from leading city specialist tour operator Tourabout Adelaide, aims to teach visitors the basics about wine – how it is made, picked, aged, bottled, as well as how to taste and select wines. Tour highlights include a private personalised tour with a specialist wine guide, visits to the National Wine Centre, Jacobs Creek Visitors Centre in the Barossa Valley, as well as private tastings. www.touraboutadelaide.com.au
THE CLARE VALLEY RIESLING TRAIL visits beautiful country towns and up to 30 local wineries and is a walking and cycling route following a disused railway line through the heart of the valley from Clare to Auburn. Cyclists can traverse the 33kms. trail in either direction and can start the journey from a number of clearly signposted side roads. The entire route can be cycled one way in about two hours. The trail starts in Auburn, around 90 minutes drive north of Adelaide, while bikes are available for hire in Clare. www.clarevalley.com.au
PADDOCK TO PLATE is a food safari tour from Exceptional Kangaroo Island focussing on the island’s diversity of produce and the passion of the producers. A full day can incorporate seafood, artisan cheese, olive oil, honey, marron (an Australian freshwater crayfish), native spices, yoghurt and wine. For example, Sue and Dan Pattingale are renowned olive oil producers – their herbaceous, peppery oil is harvested from ancient, gnarled tress from across the Island. www.exceptionalkangarooisland.com
BOOKABEE TOURS AUSTRALIA offers the Botanic Gardens Bush Food Trail in Adelaide in which participants learn about Aboriginal bush foods and plant uses, traditional duck hunting techniques, food gathering practices, where to find bush medicines as well as the opportunity to try some native bush food. www.bookabee.com.au
For more information on these tours or visiting South Australia, go to: www.southaustralia.com .