Adelaide - Barossa Valley - (Australia - (South Australia)
05 - 06 September 2025
The Barossa Valley, just over
an hour northeast of Adelaide, stands as one of Australia’s most celebrated
wine regions, renowned globally for its bold, brilliant Shiraz and a
winemaking heritage that runs deep. Ever since my fascination with wine
began some thirty years ago, this corner of Australia has held a magnetic
allure for me. Over the years, there were a few half-hearted attempts to visit,
moments when the desire flickered but never fully ignited. I even had a trip
planned for my birthday some years back, which formulated the promise to
finally immerse myself in the vineyards and cellars I’d long admired. But as
fate would have it, a small uptick in COVID cases just before we were due to
leave had other plans, and that idea was put onto the backburner as we entered
another impromptu period of being locked down and shut out.
At some point during the year, I
was alerted to a Jetstar sale offering reasonably priced flights to Adelaide.
Now, for those not in the know, Adelaide on its own is never an option. Don’t
fool yourself, ever. Adelaide may look nice on paper, and various global
liveability indexes are occasionally, and dually, ignorant and naïve enough to
place this city within the top 10 “most liveable cities.” If you think I’m
kidding, have a look at the quantitative analysis from the Economist
Intelligence Unit – 2025 Global Liveability Index. In fact, check the SA
Government’s own site, where they seemed just as shocked to publish details on
the State Government website: https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/media-releases/news-archive/adelaide-surges-into-worlds-top-10-most-liveable-cities.
Sure, it ranked highly in stability,
healthcare, infrastructure, and education, but where does
it rank in the “boring as batshit” index? Forbes published its top 100 best
cities in the world to visit, and the name Adelaide generated about as much
enthusiasm as a Milli Vanilli reunion tour — not anywhere near a player in what
makes a city memorable and great. As Inga said to me, “Adelaide, sure, you can
live here nicely enough, but nice is just a comfortable and polite way of
saying ‘painfully, soul-numbingly dull.’” https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2025/02/27/the-100-best-cities-in-the-world-to-visit-in-2025-according-to-a-new-report/
If Adelaide were a Tinder
profile, it would be a photo of a twenty-something kid holding up their Fox
Terrier with the comment, “you’re invited to my castration party.” Simply put,
Adelaide needs the Barossa, and by the same extent, the Barossa
needs Adelaide. It’s a symbiotic relationship, and perhaps oddly perverse. In
Adelaide’s favour, it is not just its logistical role as the access point to
the Barossa Valley. It has an abundance of riches on its doorstep, such
as the Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, and Eden Valley. Really, Adelaide is like a
fourteen-year-old living in Vegas — what can you do with all that city of sin
right in front of you?
Quarterly Escapes
I mentally plan quarterly escapes
for the family, something that allows us to constantly look forward to
something. I could feel the level of excitement change for both Inga and Aiden,
particularly in the week leading up to leaving. As for me, I’m perpetually
excited and always in the midst of planning two or three adventures in advance.
Just as I’m writing this piece, I’m thinking about our getaway to Malaysia, Sri
Lanka, and the Maldives in December and January, and then possibly an extended
long weekend to the Marlborough wine region in New Zealand in late March.
The flying time to Adelaide is
quite short, just under an hour, or about 750 kilometres. We made light work of
exiting the airport and jumping into our rental vehicle. Soon we were heading
up the A20 to our accommodation in Gawler, just a fifty-minute drive northeast.
Gawler holds the
distinction of being South Australia’s oldest country town and serves as the
gateway to the Barossa. We had booked a delightful few nights at an
Airbnb that was once one of the town’s religious epicentres. In recent years,
the property was purchased by a new owner who refurbished and transformed it
into a charming and unique holiday retreat, blending its historic character
with a fresh, contemporary feel.
Early the next day, we were out
driving north of Gawler. We immediately noticed the rolling vineyards
stretching across sun-drenched hills, which in itself became part of the
“terroir” conversation the moment we hit the wineries.
Our first stop of the day was Seppeltsfield
Winery, one of Australia’s oldest and most celebrated wineries. I
distinctly remember it for producing one of my favourite Australian reds, the
St. Peters Exceptional Vineyard Shiraz, which I first tried at their
Great Western location in the Grampians region of Victoria. Seppeltsfield Drive
is famously lined with magnificent palm trees on either side, creating an
iconic and picturesque entrance to the estate. The winery itself is expansive,
with inviting grounds perfect for a leisurely picnic or relaxing in the sun
with a beautiful bottle of red.
The Tasting Process
If you’ve ever been to a winery
and undertaken a tasting, you know there’s an ongoing conversation with your
server throughout the process. As employees, they are knowledgeable enough
about the wine making process, wine characteristics, and what you can and
should expect from each wine. For us visitors, I often feel somewhat
underprepared and a little embarrassed by not being able to navigate the
complexity of language that I probably should know by now. For instance, I can
distinguish a Shiraz, Cab/Sav, or Pinot by taste, but if I had to articulate
what I identify on the nose, the palate, or the finish, that’s where it falls
apart. Simply saying, “Ooh, that’s a good one,” or “yeah, I liked that, but not
so much,” doesn’t really add much value overall.
That said, our first server,
Jordan, was very nice and took us wonderfully through the five bottles on offer
in their standard tasting — mental note to self: book in that wine appreciation
course. For the first winery of our time in the Barossa, this was a great way
to kick things off. Some elegant, velvety reds without severe tannins,
surprisingly walking away with a Grenache rather than a Shiraz, which came
across as soft, smooth, with subtle fruit on the palate. A great wine for
drinking now, which is important for us since cellaring = waiting =
impossibility.
Our second stop was at Whistler
Wines, a family-owned operation founded in 1997 by Martin Pfeiffer, the
former Head Vineyard Manager at Penfolds. A beautiful little winery set amongst
native bushland, it was a great place to enjoy a second tasting of the day —
warm sunshine, a pleasant twenty-degree temperature, and a relaxed atmosphere.
In all honesty, smaller or less
well-known vineyards are hit or miss. You can sometimes hunt down a gem, but it
takes luck, and a lot of wine, which of course is part of the benefit.
Already on the first day, driving
through the green rolling hills, there are quaint country towns that
exude a timeless, rustic elegance with a very specific South Australian
character. Angaston was one of those towns, with historic stone
buildings, boutique shops, and welcoming bars and restaurants. It was warm,
charming, and inviting, a beautiful place to enjoy a walk and have a leisurely
lunch.
The final stop of the day was at St.Hugo
– Grant Burge, which is one that I had been looking forward to as St.Hugo
made quite a few reds that I’d enjoyed for some time. A location with an exquisite
backdrop, set within the heart of the vineyards, this stop for me was the standout
for the day.
To me there’s a few elements that
go into making a great experience at a winery. Obviously the product needs to
be relatively decent, I mean that the standard pass mark, but what you then
have after that is the facility itself, either the cellar door, the restaurant
on the grounds. A good winery needs to have one or more of these elements at a
high standard to start demanding a bit of interest. From there, the service
needs to be on point. Great staff can really make or break the experience. If
you have ignorant, arrogant, un-polite or dismissive staff, then the winery
itself will not make up for this failing – the staff frame and sets the tone by
which you allow yourself to immerse yourself within the ambiance of the
location. Which therefore takes me back to
St.Hugo’s, for our first day, this ended up being my favourite. All key
elements in place, with the right wines to help facilitate a great experience.
And that was our day 1 in the Barossa.
Driving back to Gawler in the late afternoon sunshine, basking in glow of wonderful
afternoon and also that internal warmth of satisfaction, this day was a really
good one. It was going to be very easy to look forward to the next couple of
days.
