wine tasting in the Barossa Valley

wine tasting in Barossa Valley (c) 2016 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

The Barossa Valley is like Napa without the crowds — featuring Shiraz instead of Chardonnay. The region abounds in small boutique wineries, and visitors can enjoy distinctive experiences well beyond the normal wine tasting ritual. My previous post described our visit to Two Hands Wines. On Wednesday, our hosts at The Louise, the boutique Relais & Chateaux property in the Barossa Valley, arranged the following opportunities for our group.

Wine & Food Match at Kalleske Wines. We showed up at 10 a.m. for a wine and food pairing session — five different wines (one white, one rose, two red, and one red dessert wine). Kalleske Wines produces certified organic wines. Wine tasting at 10 a.m.? This was something totally new for me.

Taste Your Birth Year at Seppeltsfield. Established 150 years ago, this vineyard produces Tawny (Port) wines, and we each had the opportunity to taste a port from the year of our birth. Strong stuff, my 65 year old sample proved to be! This was followed by lunch at the winery's Fino restaurant and a chance to do some retail therapy at the Jam Factory artists' studios.

Hentley Farm Wines has been named the top winery in Australia by James Halliday. We had a chance to sample wines direct from the barrel although, frankly, there's only so much wine I can drink in a day, so it was taste and spit for me!

I had no idea that the oak barrel can affect a wine so profoundly, and our final experience at Murray Street Vineyards was a chance to taste the exact same wine, stored in different barrels made with different varieties of oak from French, American, and other coopers. More taste and spit, but the differences were astounding.

grape vines (c) 2016 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

copyright  (c)  2016 by David Ourisman LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

the Barossa Valley

Barossa Valley Treeline (c) 2016 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

June in the Barossa Valley is like December in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. With the same cool (not cold) winter weather, the grapes have long since been harvested, and workers are now pruning the vines in preparation for next spring. Even the gum (eucalyptus) trees remind me of home in the Berkeley hills, though the Barossa Valley doesn't have the Live Oak trees found in northern California... nor nearly as much traffic.

Tourism here is all about wine and food. Yesterday we did a wine tasting at Artisans of Barossa (essentially a cooperative of several small wine producers) followed by lunch in the affiliated Harvest Kitchen. This was followed by a visit to Two Hands Wines including tasting several varieties of their Shiraz straight from the barrel. Though I normally don't like young red wines, these were exceptional.

Here's what to look for, if you're ever in the region.

Today? Four more wine tastings, starting at 10 a.m. I think I'll (mostly) watch and listen ... but if you're a true oenophile, you'll find that the Barossa Valley is heaven on earth, Australian style. We have the connections to help you put together the food and wine tour of your dreams, complete with exclusive visits off the beaten path.

copyright  (c)  2016 by David Ourisman LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.