The Auswine Forum

Hey Guys..and girls,
I'm heading to SA in august for my annual wine trip, we always start in Langhorne Creek, then head off somewhere else. This year we are heading to the Borrossa to sniff out all those little producers like Head and Sons of Eden, last time I was in the Borrossa I didn't overly enjoy it, don't get me wrong the wine was good, but it all felt a little too commercial, so my question is firstly, does anyone know of more "off the beaten track" wineries to check out, and secondly, does anyone know of some good (not too pricey) accommodation such as a modern B&B that's in the vines somewhere?
Any help would be awesome....
Cheers

I haven't made the trip but heard good things about Tscharke Wines.
Was a toss up between that & greenock creek last visit.
Hadn't been to greenock creek before so gave that a run but will do Tscharke next time.

Go to Artisans of Barossa..they'll have Sons of Eden and a bunch of others there available for tasting. I think each weekend one of the winemakers is there so they'll be opening their weekly selection plus others...

You can try to get an appointment at Ruggabellus...They don't have a cellar door but I know some people have made appointments there..

Polymer wrote:Go to Artisans of Barossa..they'll have Sons of Eden and a bunch of others there available for tasting. I think each weekend one of the winemakers is there so they'll be opening their weekly selection plus others...

+1

I usually go to Rockford, Charlie Melton, Turkey Flat and one random one ... yes pretty well known names but all still cute and largely family run.
Other suggestions Heritage, Burge Family, Willows.

Cheers guys, any tips on accommodation?

Blesso,

Try the Adelaide Hills district for a more off the beaten track experience. You can also drive there from Langhorn Creek by the back roads via Strathalbyn staying in the Adelaide Hills. Some rustic small towns and obscure wineries on the way to Hahndorf (German theme town) and beyond. Finding some wineries is an adventure in itself as they tend to be off the beaten track.There's some nice B&B throughout the hills. You can easily push on to the Barossa in a day again by the more relaxed hills route that takes you past Yalumba and Henscke. Pretty time of year and open fires abound in wineries pubs and restaurants. Just the ticket after a hard day's tasting. Take your winter woolies as it can get chilly but that's part of the charm of the hills.

Carl

Cheers Carl...sounds like a plan

Linfield Road Wines definitely worth a look.

And Chateau Tanunda.

Cheers...I'll add them to the list

Email Brett Grocke from Eperosa. Little barrel shed out the back of his Mum's place and his 2012 wines are superb.
Gomersal Wines. Ring ahead and see if Barry will be there. Tell him I sent you.
Laughing Jack. Very nice wines.
Sieber Rd Wines. Val is a treasure and the wines are good as well. Beautiful cellar door which is part of their house.
Artisons of Barossa. Great tasting there and certainly worth doing if you are in the Barossa.
Taste of Eden (Angaston) is worth a look too. Blonde Coffee down the street makes a decent brew. Plus the Barossa Cheese Company is right across the road.
Cirillo WInes. Oldest Grenache vines in the country.
Tscharke's is very well regarded as you say and I'm kicking myself for not getting there last time down there.
Rockfords is always worth a visit too. Basket Press was on sale in the cellar door at the start of this month but I think the stocks were low.

If you are going to try and get a tasting with Alex Head, email first to make sure he will be around as I don't think he actually lives in the Barossa.

Try and get to the farmers markets on a Saturday morning as well. It is also starting to get a bit commercialised but still worth a look. Steiny's have a small goods factory just outside of Tanunda and there Mettwurst and Biersticks are fantastic.

For Dinner you have to try Fermentasian in Tanunda. Absolutely stunning. For the most expensive meal in the Barossa (and probably the best), Appellation. 1918 is always good. Vintners is pretty good too. and Hently Farm is good buy very expensive.

As for accommodation, we always stay at Elsie's cottage. Right in the middle of Tanunda.

Cheers
Ian

I haven't been, but have heard excellent things about Yelland and Papps. I'm also a big fan of Rolf Binder's work and he has a lovely cellar door.

For accommodation in the Barossa, I like Lawley Farm (down the road from Rockfords), but my wife insists that it is haunted.

Whilst you're in town are you interested in an Offline?

+1 for Artisans and for Taste of Eden.

For a personalised tasting, call Wayne Dutschke (http://www.dutschkewines.com) to work through his lovely wines. A top, top bloke who makes some cracking stuff.

Have a great trip.

Cheers, Travis.

Some great recommendations in here. Have a read of the link below too

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13613

A Quick rundown of where I would go (in no order):

Gibson and visiting there is a must.

Charlie Melton for food. I felt the wines were overpriced. They wernt bad, just too expensive for what they were.

Artisans for john duval and Schwartz nitschke block shiraz.

langmeil

David Franz - by appointment only

Sami odi - again by appointment only and may be sold out

Standish wine company (big $$ but great wine)

Turkey flat is great, but can get very busy.

Kalleske

Dutschke - st jakobi is a favourite

Schubert - goose yard block mmmmm

Sieber rd has great value wines as does gomersal


Rockford is usually packed (for a very good reason)

Seppeltsfield for their fortifieds

Thanks for all the great tips guys! I'll put them to good use. Regarding the offline, I'm coming over with my old man and my brother...I'll chat to them and see if they are keen, I'll be over on the 10th and the 11th of August so there is plenty of time to work it out.
I'm thinking of heading over to Clare to see Tony and Lita, anyone got any advice of how to get a foot in the door, I'm assuming it may be a little hard that time of the year with all their orders flying out the door, but its worth a try.

Polymer wrote:Go to Artisans of Barossa..they'll have Sons of Eden and a bunch of others there available for tasting. I think each weekend one of the winemakers is there so they'll be opening their weekly selection plus others...

You can try to get an appointment at Ruggabellus...They don't have a cellar door but I know some people have made appointments there..

Polymer, Ruggabellus looks interesting, have you tried their wines?

Any tips for getting a face to face at Wendouree?

If you end up visiting Clare, we stayed at molly's chase. There are two cabins on the property, we stayed in mollycoddles cabin which has beautiful views across the valley.

As mentioned previously, appellation in the barossa was great (we had the degustation). They also have a winemakers dinner once a month.

Blesso wrote:Any tips for getting a face to face at Wendouree?

Blesso, drop them a line in the post kindly explaining the situation that you have a few of their wines, will be in the district and would really like a look round.
I did this a year or two after CD sales ceased in 1997 and Tony and Lita were very generous.

Despite the fairly relaxed approach re sorting the orders and dispatch, it actually runs like clock work.
Have had the last 10 years of deliveries within just a day or two from each other.

If you show an interest, they will more than likely make the time for you.

Cheers
Craig.

Blesso wrote:Any tips for getting a face to face at Wendouree?

I went there last year around this time. My wife organised it for me as a surprise birthday visit. She called way ahead (like a month or something) and spoke with Tony and made sure it wasn't gonna inconvenience them. I think she called Tony on the day and made sure it was a good time. As it was fairly well planned Tony was ready and set aside an hour or so for a tour. It's not a cellar door anymore so you can forget the welcome mat as such and we had to hunt around the place 'til we found someone to help us. Needless to say once we found Tony he was awesome and took us thru the whole process. So plan ahead and double check that you're not putting them out as I don't think the place gets many visitors.

Cheers guys, I'll get onto it....looking forward to the mailer, can't wait to try the 2012's!