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Australia - Warm at hearth
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Australia Travel - Australia Attractions & Sights |
As winter takes a grip on the patchwork landscape of the Barossa Valley,
a startling colour reversal begins. In the paddocks and the hillsides,
parched pastures get their first drenchings and stretches of dried grass and
baked earth sprout with the vivid green of new growth.
 In
the vineyards, it's just the opposite. The emerald leaves have turned to red
and gold, before dropping, and the bunches of juice-laden grapes are long
gone. In some places, the bare canes have been left in a crazy tangle, while
elsewhere the pruners have been in and given the vineyard the severest of
crop-tops.
So, the Valley is still brown and green, but the other way around. On a
clear winter's day, it looks magnificent but an icy wind can mean it's not a
place to linger.
This is a time for short bursts of fresh air between languorous hours of
doing what the Barossa does best.
Log fires, glowing faces, hospitality and good humour. Fine country cooking,
in ample portions, with strong ties to the region's wonderful produce. And,
of course, the wine; reds of serious substance, or perhaps a fortified,
sipped slowly by one of those fires.
Most visitors will drive into the Barossa along the Valley floor, starting
at Lyndoch and working north along the Barossa Valley Way to Murray St and
the conjoined towns of Tanunda and Nuriootpa.
To the right are the steep slopes of the Northern Mt Lofty Ranges and Eden
Valley; to the left, on either side of the Sturt Highway, the charm of small
settlements such as Greenoch and Marananga. There are more than 60 wineries
with some form of cellar-door facilities scattered along the way – so if you
went to the Barossa once a month for a year, you would still be struggling
to cover them all.
The secret to enjoying winery touring is not to rush through too many – take
your time, get to know the wines and the people, or the experience will turn
to a blur. You will quickly develop favourites – I love the run along
Hallett and Krondorf roads, with St Hallett, Rockford and Charles Melton,
and now the fledgling Krondorf Cafe at Kabminye Wines.
For even more variety, and a chance to buy labels you won't find in even the
best city-based bottle shop, call into the Small Winemakers' Centre in the
magnificent historic building of Chateau Tanunda. This is a retail outlet
for a collective of more than 20 small-scale and family producers, often
making only one or two wines, and in tiny quantities. On the weekend, one of
the makers should be on deck to offer free tastings.
We sampled the wines of the Rohrlach Family, grape growers in the region for
more than 50 years who now use a small parcel of hand-picked fruit each
vintage for their own releases. The 2000 Barossa shiraz is delicious and
exclusive enough to delight your wine-snob friends.
Wolf Blass is unquestionably at the opposite end of the scale, a significant
part (at least symbolically) of what has become in the takeover of Southcorp
by Foster's the world's biggest premium wine company.
And where Chateau Tanunda is a landmark of the old Barossa (it was built in
1888), the Wolf Blass Visitor Centre is a symbol of its modern heart. It's a
spectacular piece of contemporary design, a circular building of raw stone,
timber and metal, with a large, grassed courtyard at the centre.
The Blass eagle is everywhere, from the stylised, polished metal canopy at
the entrance to the lifelike bronzed statue on a rough stone plinth.
You'll also see the eagle on each of the bottles you try in the main tasting
room. There are more than 40 bottles in the full Wolf Blass range, from the
red-label easy-drinkers to the $185 platinum shiraz. The tasting has been
structured into a choice of "flights".
Try the gold-label range for a quick flit around some of Australia's best
wine regions, from Mornington Peninsula pinot gris, to Adelaide Hills
shiraz/viognier. It's also worth the $5 surcharge to try the three premium
grey and black-label wines.
The Illaparra Fortified Shop is a sure-fire way to dispel any lingering
winter chills, a cosy combination of cellar door, bar and lounge in a
basement on Tanunda's main street.
It offers tastings and sales of ports, muscats and a mistella, as well as
matching plates of cheeses and other foods, a good coffee, cakes and scones.
After all that indulgence, you won't want to travel too far to find
lodgings. Eve's Cottages are just out of Tanunda (a brisk walk if you're
keen), on the road leading to Bethany. Eva and Norm O'Brien have built two
comfortable cottages at the back of their property, looking over expanses of
vineyard and, in the distance, the Mt Lofty Ranges. There's a large,
claw-foot bath, pot-bellied stove, good kitchen facilities and a verandah
with barbecue. A bottle of tawny port and you'll be hoping winter doesn't
end.
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