Wine touring in the Barossa Valley, South Australia
This premier wine region is known for its reds – but there’s a lot more to discover.
Of the 18 wine regions in South Australia, the Barossa Valley is probably the most famous – and for good reason. Its enviable Mediterranean climate yields fabulous full-bodied red wines that rate among the best in the world. But when we took a wine tour, we discovered another side to the Barossa story. The Eden Valley area, with its higher altitudes, offers cold-climate wines such as Chardonnay, Semillon and Riesling. And there were more surprises to come.
Wine regions of South Australia
South Australia is the fourth largest state in the country, but is best in class for wine. The state has 6 primary grape-growing areas and 18 wine regions. Adelaide is one of the ‘Great wine capitals of the world’ – the only Australian inclusion in this list of 12 premium wine centres.
With only a few days to spare, we chose to visit the Barossa Valley over the other tours offered. It was easily accessible from our base in the Adelaide Hills. We thought the Barossa full-bodied reds would be a nice contrast from the cold-climate wines we had enjoyed on our previous wine tour in the Yarra Valley and Macedon, Victoria.
How to tour the barossa valley
If you intend to follow the professionals and use a spittoon and bucket when tasting your wines, then you can choose to drive yourself. But if, like us, you rather like to drink the wine as well as taste it, then a guided tour is the answer. Your choice of tour will be influenced by:
- where you are based;
- the size of your group;
- your budget;
- the amount of time you have available;
- other activities you might wish to include, such as visits to chocolate or cheese factories, microbreweries, towns or places of interest;
- what kind of wines you like (there are over 80 wineries in the Barossa Valley!)
- whether you want a lunch, morning coffee or afternoon tea stop;
- your interests – for example industrial history, architecture, viticulture etc.
Our tight schedule meant that we were looking for a shorter tour and a pick-up and drop-off from our hotel in the Adelaide Hills. This narrowed the choice of operator considerably. Most tours were for 8 hours, with fixed itineraries and pick-ups in Adelaide city only. Fortunately, we stumbled upon award-winning Best Wine Tours, a company offering well-priced, fully flexible bespoke tours that were perfect for our needs.
When arranging our tour, guide John’s advice and knowledge were indispensable for setting an itinerary that suited our interests and could be achieved within our timeframe of 5-6 hours. We decided on 4 wineries and a lunch stop.
From Adelaide to the Barossa Valley
Our journey, in John’s very comfortable BMW, took us north-east of Adelaide through rolling hills and small towns like Oakbank, Woodside and Williamstown. The countryside was parched and dry, having had much lower rainfall than usual during the previous winter. John gave us lots of interesting information about the history of the areas that we were passing through. Many names reflected the origins of European settlers, notably those from Germany, Scotland and England. I have my own family connections in the Eden Valley.
After an enjoyable drive of about an hour and a quarter, we reached Lyndoch and the first stop on our winery tour.
Kies family vineyard
This scenic vineyard has been run by the Kies family since 1985. The cellar door was busy, but we managed to taste 4 different wines. First, I was excited to try the 2024 Shepard Vuk White Shiraz – my first ever white shiraz. Described as a ‘delicate and floral dry white’, I found it to be very similar to the New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc wines that I love.
The 2023 Polly Jean Sparkling Shiraz Rosé – ‘aromas of strawberry and cream lollies with a crisp dry finish’ – was dangerously drinkable. Even better was the 2022 Cheers to You Sparkling Shiraz – aged in a mixture of French and American oak. This was a very different, standout sparkling wine, classed as a soft red but with a hint of spice. I loved it even more than my final tasting, the Kies family’s flagship 2021 Dedication Shiraz.
Service at the cellar door was informative and friendly. Conscious that we still had other wineries to visit, we decided not to purchase anything at this stage.
Kellermeister
Our next winery was also in Lyndoch. Founded in 1976, Kellermeister is one of the top-rated Australian wine producers. Luckily for us, a group was just leaving the cellar door as we arrived, so we had the full attention of the very friendly staff and managed 5 tastings. We particularly enjoyed the quirky humour of the branding and naming of the Kellermeister wines.
I’m not usually a fan of aromatics, but the 2024 Wombat General Eden Valley Riesling was very enjoyable. Equally surprising was the 2023 Threefold Farm Barossa Rosé. Unlike some rosés which can taste a little insipid, like sugary water, this single vineyard Grenache rosé had a full-bodied, punchy flavour.
A new grape variety for me was the Mataro, which is often blended with other varieties. First, we tried a 2023 Missy Moo Mataro. This was a fragrant and very different red from the usuals. We then tried a blend – the 2020 Funk Wagon GSM (Grenache Shiraz Mataro).
While we really enjoyed these lovely reds, the one that really blew us away was the award-winning 2021 Wild Witch Shiraz. Voted Best Barossa Shiraz at the 2023 International London Wine Competition, we were definitely spellbound by this amazing wine, so much so that we splashed out on a bottle to take home.
Lunch stop – Char Barossa
Of all the restaurant suggestions made by our guide John, Char Barossa was the least fancy and most affordable. We chose it not for those reasons, but for the menu, which was the most appealing to our tastes. The restaurant is a modest establishment in an equally modest town (Tanunda), but we couldn’t have made a better choice. The food was fantastic! We absolutely loved it.
With less than an hour to spare, we chose a selection of tapas-style sharing plates, which were served promptly and were absolutely delicious. Char Barossa deserves to be full and to have queues at the door! The food was sensational. In all honesty, we enjoyed it more than a fancy 7-course degustation dinner we attended elsewhere on the following day – but that’s another story.
Rockford Wines
A 7-minute drive from Char Barossa was Rockford winery, which turned out to be our final tasting session of the day.
Rockford’s unique selling point is that their grapes are all hand-picked, which seems amazing in our technology-driven times. They own some of the best and oldest vineyards in the Barossa, so it wasn’t surprising to learn that their focus is on traditional wines and winemaking. This inspiration from history extends to the design of the cellar door and winery, which are housed in attractive old stone buildings around a paved courtyard. They look old, but they’re not – they were mostly built in the 1980s!
When we arrived, they were hosting several groups and we thought we were out of luck. Thanks to the influence of our guide John, space was found and we took our place at the bar. I began with a 2023 Eden Valley Riesling – somewhat more floral, and less to my taste, than the Kies one I’d tried earlier. Next, we tried a 2022 Semillon, not something I had expected to find in the Barossa. Bottled with a special seasoned French oak cork, it had a pleasant citrus sharpness.
Another surprising aromatic was the 2023 White Frontignac. The grapes are picked early, resulting in a lower alcohol wine with a nice acidity, not too sweet. Next came my top wine of the day, which I enjoyed even more than Rockford’s much-lauded, signature 2021 Basket Press Shiraz. My favourite was the 2024 Alicante Bouchet. I loved this light, fruity red because it was so unexpected, different, summery, and utterly drinkable. I just had to take one home.
Next came another Alicante wine but this time, blended with Grenache and Mataro. 2022 Frugal Farmer was a lovely light-bodied red, a perfect drink for the hot sunny afternoon. Our final tastings were two traditional Barossa reds – a 2019 Rod & Spur Cabernet Shiraz and a 2020 Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon. I particularly enjoyed the latter, which was full-bodied yet soft and easy to drink.
I haven’t bothered linking to Rockford’s website because, unlike their wines, it is not very good at all! You’ll get better information from Google.
Chateau Tanunda
Alas, time was running too short for a fourth winery tasting. Which was probably a good thing! But John took us for a brief visit to Chateau Tanunda just to see the amazing building and peep inside their wonderful, spacious cellar door and tasting room.
This imposing, impressive winery really does look like a chateau, surrounded by lawns, courtyards and palm trees. Originally built in the late 1880s from local Bethany bluestone, the chateau is now formally listed as a heritage building. It was bought in 1998, and subsequently restored, by the Geber family, who still own the winery today.
After our swift visit and a few photos, it was time to head back to the Adelaide Hills after a great day out.
Final thoughts
There is so much to see in the Barossa Valley – starkly beautiful countryside, charming towns, settler history and heritage buildings. From big name wineries to boutique artisan producers, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
We definitely discovered that the Barossa Valley is not all about red wine. We pushed aside our own taste boundaries to try some of the innovative varietals and quirky blends, and were delighted to discover new favourites. We learned that the pioneers who brought old-world grape varieties and winemaking traditions to a new-world setting were able to create imaginative new wines that respected tradition but were not restricted by it.
Our guide John’s vast knowledge of the region and the wine industry was a huge factor in helping us to appreciate everything we saw and to get the best out of our day. He was able to give us the personal attention that simply would not have been available on a big bus tour. John went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly, suggesting changes to our itinerary when necessary to help us stick to our timeframe. Best of all, he was a lovely, fun and engaging person to accompany us on our journey.
John and his wife Mary also offer tours to other wine regions such as McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Langhorne Creek – plus other, non-winery tours.
We therefore highly recommend Best Wine Tours to anyone considering a wine tour in South Australia. And just to be clear, this is an honest and independent view – we are not being paid or rewarded in any way for saying so.
When to go
We visited in March, when early autumn colours were visible around the countryside. Temperatures ranged between 25 and 33 celsius most days. We saw no rain at all during our whole week in South Australia – just warm sun and blue skies! Late spring is another pleasant time to visit the Barossa Valley.
Autumn is harvest time, so various celebrations take place associated with this. In late April, the Barossa Vintage Festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors to events across the region. Depending on your liking for such festivals, you might choose to coincide your arrival with it, or aim to avoid it!
If you’re interested in reading more posts about Australia or the Pacific region, take a look at our Oceania page. More posts coming soon on luxury Australian country house stays.
© Coconut Lands. Our content is written by humans, not AI, and is therefore copyright-protected. Not to be reproduced without permission.
