Barossa Valley
South Australia'S Best Known Wine Region, An Hour From Adelaide, Built On Nineteenth Century German Lutheran Settlement And Now The Country'S Leading Producer Of Shiraz, With Cellar Doors From Century Old Family Sheds To Large Tourist Ready Estates · Tanunda, South Australia
The Barossa Valley runs from Lyndoch through Tanunda to Angaston, about an hour north-east of Adelaide, and is Australia's best-known wine region even among people who have never set foot in the country. German Lutheran settlers arrived in the 1840s fleeing religious conflict in Silesia, and their legacy survives in the valley's church spires, stone cottages and some of the oldest continuously producing vines in the world, spared the phylloxera louse that wiped out old vines across most of Europe. Shiraz is the valley's signature, grown on old, dry-farmed bush vines that produce small, concentrated crops, with riesling from the cooler Eden Valley rounding out the picture. Cellar doors range from century-old family sheds pouring across a timber counter to large, polished estates built for tour groups. The Barossa Farmers Market in Angaston and a food scene built around German-heritage butchers give the valley a reason to visit beyond the glass. A car or a driver is necessary, since the cellar doors sit along back roads with no useful public transport.
The wine valley an hour north-east of Adelaide, running from Lyndoch through Tanunda to Angaston, Tanunda, South Australia, Australia
Most cellar doors open daily from about ten to five, though a number of the smallest family producers close on Mondays and Tuesdays outside the harvest and festival months, so confirm ahead if one specific winery is the reason for the trip. Tastings are commonly free with a purchase or charge a small fee otherwise, and several of the valley's best-known names require a booking for a seated tasting, especially on weekends. The Barossa Farmers Market in Angaston runs only on Saturday mornings and is closed the rest of the week. Maggie Beer's farm shop and several restaurants close one or two weekdays outside peak season - check specific hours before driving out.