Australia in pictures: South Australia

Kangaroos, trebuchets, squid fishing and the world’s oldest productive Grenache vines: the drinks business brings you highlights from a visit to South Australia.

After a whirlwind tour of Victoria, db and the rest of the James Busby Travel group crossed the border into South Australia. Over the next few days we visited an exciting mix of producers in Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Barossa and Clare Valley. Scroll through the next few pages to discover some of the highlights.

What better welcome could there be to South Australia than a sparkling Shiraz breakfast laid on by the team at Majella Wines.

Did you know that Coonawarra’s famous terra rossa soil in fact makes up less than half the geology of the region’s official GI? A protracted legal battle 10 years ago means that producers remain wary of trying to create sub-regions, despite marked differences in terroir.

Long used as a high quality fruit source for a number of major Australian producers, Langhorne Creek is now working to carve out a reputation in its own right. Greg Follett of Lake Breeze is playing a leading role in putting his region on the map, topping the trophy table in this year’s inaugural Langhorne Creek Wine Show.

Mike Brown, winemaker at Gemtree Vineyards, used the cliffs on the beach at Port Willunga to conduct a scenic introduction to the geology of McLaren Vale.

For those prepared to tackle an early start, there was the chance to try your hand at squid fishing. Jason Weight, wine director for Rick Stein’s restaurant, and Ben Stephenson of Hanging Ditch wine merchant in Manchester (aided by his cuddly marketing manager Billy Badger), spent a happy hour catching absolutely nothing.

D’Arenberg’s charismatic head winemaker Chester Osborne was sadly away, but his 87-year-old father D’Arry Osborne made an excellent stand-in. After a detailed exploration of McLaren Vale site specifics through a tasting of 12 single vineyard Shiraz expressions, it was time to enjoy the rest of D’Arenberg’s extensive portfolio over lunch. This included the producer’s controversial sparkling wine – soon to receive a lawyer-induced name change.

Wirra Wirra introduced a competitive edge within the group, first challenging us to recreate the blend for its soon-to-be-released 2012 Church Block, before unleashing its famous trebuchet to see who could hurl a watermelon furthest across the vineyard.

On a rainy day you could be forgiven for mistaking Penfold’s spiritual home at Magill Estate for a Speyside whisky distillery. What gives the game away is the rows of Grange barrels maturing peacefully in the cellars here.

db’s Gabby Savage gets up close and personal with a rather doubtful young kangaroo during a brief Aussie critter encounter at Cleland Wildlife Park, tucked up in the hills above Adelaide.

Then it was back to business with a visit that combined some of the most scenic views and exciting wines of the entire trip at Adelaide Hills estate The Lane. While viticulturalist Marty Edwards lavishes attention on the vineyard, former Henschke winemaker Michael Schreurs opts for extensive maceration to achieve some beautifully textured Shiraz.

The Hon. Leon Bignell MP, South Australia’s minister for Agriculture, Food & Fisheries and Minister for Tourism, pledged his support for the state’s AU$1.8 billion wine industry during a showcase of producers in Adelaide.

Where else can you find a barrel of wine from every year dating back to 1878? Seppeltsfield’s spectacular library of fortified wines, from which it releases an annual 100-year-old limited edition, offers a solid foundation as this historic Barossa brand begins its revival under the new ownership of Warren Randall.

Think Barossa is all about rich, 15% abv Shiraz? Think again. Spinifex winemaker Pete Schell is forging a path back to what he described as “a much more honest perspective” with a return to the region’s “very cool, claret style reds” of the 1980s.

Stepping even further back into Barossa history, Marco Cirillo is a dutiful custodian of a 10-acre plot of Grenache vines planted in 1848 – making them possibly the oldest example of this variety still in commercial production. In order to stop these ancient bush vines collapsing, Marco carries out the laborious, highly skilled practice of basket pruning, single-handedly treating just 100 vines a day at around 15 minutes per vine.

Slate is just one factor making Clare Valley a suitable candidate for Riesling cultivation, but the Jesuits at the region’s oldest winery, Sevenhill Cellars, take it a step further by using the rock to make these fermentation tanks. As with many parts of the world who specialise in Riesling, debate persists about the best stylistic route forward for the region.

Hidden away in the depths of the Adelaide Hills are a number of exciting small producers, including Taras Ochota (left), pictured here with James Busby Travel founder Tim Wildman MW.

As the group’s time in South Australia came to an end, the Ochota family and friend hosted a delicious dinner, which featured this ingenious use of a fork lift truck for cooking paella.

Look out for the final instalment in this series as the group heads over the Western Australia…