Sheila and Friends Wine Tour
Thursday, October 4th, 2018
9 am – Pick up from Sheila’s house
9:30 am – Kangarilla Road for wine tasting
This beautiful, modern cellar door is a great way to start the day looking out onto a nice grassy area extending onto vineyards. Family owned for decades now, Kangarilla Road specializes in small batch wines with of course Shiraz but they have fully embraced the alternate Italian varieties such as Fiano, Vermentino, Sangiovese and Primitivo. With a range of wines, and a few different style shiraz’s this is a great spot to start a day out in McLaren Vale
11 am – Graham Stevens for wine tasting and masterclass in wine
This absolute legend has been in the wine game for 5 decades and is one of the most knowledgeable people in the region. He started as Coriole’s first winemaker from 1969 until 1979, he started Kangarilla Road and Cambrai and has been making his own label for a few decades now. Graham has a story about every wine and can keep teach you something new every time you visit. He selects the best fruit he can find from the region and has a few vineyards of his own. He has a range of wines and it’s all made by himself and his daughter Carolyn. The person I recommend anyone interested in wine to visit.
12:30 pm – Salopian Inn for lunch
This well-known local eatery is surrounded by vineyards and always serves fresh food with a wide array of flavours. They have developed many gardens on their property and grow most of what they use in the kitchen. They have a nice spicy, Asian theme mixed into their locally grown produce and proteins. Lunch will include a couple entrees, a shared main, two sides and a drink (wine, beer or G&T). They have a great wine cellar, some good local beers and around 150 gins to try.
2 pm – Primo Estate for wine tasting
Just down from the Salopian this winery is owned by an Italian family that has brilliantly combined their old-world Italian heritage with the freedom of making wine in the new world. Lovers of some of the great Italian alternate varietals, they always have something special to try including their delicious olive oils, sparkling red and gorgeously sweet Fronti Fortified. The cellar door looks like a modern museum with glass pieces scattered throughout the area and big glass windows and doors leading straight onto their vineyards with a view of the hills behind Willunga.
3:30 pm – Inkwell for wine tasting
This new cellar door has to be one of the prettiest I have been to. It was designed over 4 years and was built using 21 shipping containers. The bar is spectacular as well as the views including from the rooftop platform. It’s run by Dudley and Irina who have been making the minimal intervention wines for 10 years. The have a lot of small batches and make a total of 21 wines but rotate what they show in cellar door every week. A beautiful place to finish up before heading back to Sheila’s.