Adelaide

Friday 26th Jan was Australia day, so I made the most of the long weekend to head to Adelaide and catch up with my friend Kathy who flew in from Sydney. Spent Thur and Fri night in the city, eating and drinking our way through the bars and restaurants on Rundle St. On Sat we headed an hour south to Mclaren vale where we sampled the first couple of wineries, the first being Hugh Hamiltons with the infamous 'Sheep-Dip', then onto Wirra Wirra who supply some of the Qantas onboard wines, which weren't half bad (first bottle in the boot)

Heading back north through the Adelaide Hills we stopped off in the old German town of Hahndorf, to say this place was a bit 'Touristy' would be an understement, but a small german beer seemed pretty authentic.

Hitting the road again, we were in the Barossa Valley in time to check in to the hotel in Tanunda and head to the Seppeltsfield winery for the 'Shakespeare in the vines'. This place was one of the oldest wineries in Australia and is famous for it's long drives framed by old palm trees.....

We made it in time to spread the blanket and stock up on pate crackers and wine before the performance of Romeo&Juliet started. It was a great performace by a Melbourne company, set in the small copice surrounded by tall trees, with the slowly setting sun marking the final scene it made a great end to a great day....

The Sunday was spent exploring the Barossa. Some great scenery, with parched earth and rich green vines making for some tasty wines. Firstly to Yulumba steering clear of the Tesco range, we headed for some of their regional wines (another bottle for the boot). Onto Whistler, a small family winery in the Seppeltfield road - another Cab Merlot founds its way into the boot.

Not wanting to drink on an empty stomach we headed to Maggie Beers farm shop - shes a famous cook over here and I have to admit that the Pate range and Quince paste was pretty amazing. the vanilla and Elderflower ice cream was irrisistable.



Monday came and it was time to head back to Adelaide for the afternoon flight, but not before calling into Jacobs Creek....We debated whether to go here, but with one of the oldest wineries in the place and a huge range of wines, it was worth the effort. With the history of the Orlando wines and the original winemaker Gramps, the history of the place was interesting to say the least.
Skipping the Tesco range of wines we headed to the heritage reds in the Jacobs Creek range, my favourite being the Centenery Hills Shiraz. Then onto the Orlando range which aren't sold outside Australia or at least in limited amounts, definately my fav was the Jacaranda Ridge - was tempted to get my Uncle a bottle but was on the steep side. I settled for a 2003 Vintage in the Gramps range a cab merlot that was pretty dam good not sure if it will ever see a celler though. It struck me how many of these wine tasters that write the reviews must have tried oak/plums/gooseberies/passion fruit/earthy tones etc etc can't say my vocab stretches that far but at least I know what I like and am beginning to learn a bit more about the ancient art of getting drunk on wine.....


over and out....