Grape Vines in the Barossa Valley.
Our recent travels took us to the famous Barossa Wine Region. The area is set among gentle rolling hills in a long valley and has 80 wineries that produce some outstanding world class wines. From small vineyards to large multi national wineries this place has it all. It is really known for the reds, shirazs, and merlots that come out of the region. The reislings and semillons are equally as good. Although our experience has been that the Clare Valley is better know for those than the Barossa. The Barossa region accounts for about 20%percent of Australla's total wine output. The wineries are also the lifeblood of the local economy and support several small towns nestled throughout the region and a bustling tourist business. The Barossa Valley is about an hours drive from Adelaide and we went up on a day trip with Larry and Caroline, our friends from Canada who are also on exchange. We visited the small towns of Tununda, and Nuriootpa and went to the nice wineries and cellar doors of Vinecrest, Whistler, Maggies Farm, and Peter Lehman. The Peter Lehman winery was nice as we got there just before a downpour and had a friendly chat with a guy that worked there about sking. We traveled on later and walked around main street in Tununda and stopped to eat lunch in a very German style bakery called the Barossa Worst House (Wurst Haus). I have to say that despite the name, they had some of the best potato soup I had ever tasted. There were also many interesting shops and people in the town. The few wineries we did visit throughout the day were very enjoyable, and Kim and I really liked the 2004 shiraz from Peter Lehman. I did the driving by the way, so my tastings were very limited, but I don't really drink that much anyway to begin with. The return drive took us through some wonderful rolling green valley countryside and we saw a fantastic sunset along the way.
Whistler wines- our friends from Canada loved the name and the wine.
Some of the wines from Vinecrest, Peter Lehman, and Whistler.
Magnificent sunset over the Barossa Valley.
This is the winery called Maggies Farm- and Bob Dylan got it right- I ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm no more- we took his advice to heart and relaxed with some wine tastings and a light lunch.
This old car was parked on Main Street in the town on Tanunda.
Inside fireplace at the lounge in the Peter Lehman winery- it was cold and rainy when we got there and it was nice to relax inside by the warm fire with a nice glass of shiraz.
