Adelaide : Wine Tastings at the Barossa Valley

You cannot say you've visited Australia if you haven't been to any of its wine regions, lucky for me Adelaide is just next door to the famous Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills wine areas.

Visiting the wine regions is definitely in my topmost priority for this trip, so I saved the best for last.....

Just a few days before I have to head back to the Middle East again, I asked my sister and niece to go with me on a Wine Appreciation tour in the Barossa Valley (unbelievable how they can live right next to it and have never been there lol!!). 

Winter is definitely not the best time to visit this area as the vineyards all look barren and forlorn with no leaves and grapes hanging over it (the image imposed in my mind of how a vineyard should look hahaha --- fat and ripe grapes hanging over the shrubs and greeneries). Anyhow, since there is no traipsing in the vineyards for photo ops in our itinerary we might as well spend it all tasting the wines!

We went off to at least 3 different wine cellars. The selection at each cellar were amazing! We were given at least 15 - 20 different bottles of Shiraz, Sauvignons, Semillons......ahhhh you name it, they have it!

First stop was at the Hemera Estate cellar door......the sommelier was pretty amazing. She opened about 15 different bottles from different vintages, produced from their 100-year old vines. 

The Barossa Valley is home to about 20,000 residents scattered around its picturesque villages (as in rolling greens with a smattering of cows) with a heavy Lutheran influence similar to that in Hahndorf. 

We stopped off for lunch in one of the bigger towns in the valley --- Tanunda. First settled in by immigrants in 1842, vestiges of its past can still be seen in its well-preserved buildings. We had lunch at the 170-year old Tanunda Hotel. 

Next stop is the Basedows cellar door......the lady sommelier (hmm, so far we've had only lady sommeliers --- got the best noses in the business I guess) took us on a wine tasting journey with our heads swimming in wine jargons like tannins, bouquets, aeration, etc.....too much info in one day lol.

Just couldn't resist.....bought some reds and whites to take back home.

We decided to just stop off for the popular Maggie Beer's Farm shop for more wine tastings and try out their organic farm products before going back home. Its a very popular stop for tourists and when we visited it was almost full.

Inshallah, for my next trip to Adelaide, I will definitely spend more time here in the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills, or even explore more wine regions in this area like McLaren Vale.