25 September 2005 (Day 20)
It is Sunday today, so we are going to head North to take in the fruit of the vine and work of human hands in the Barossa Valley. The first task of the day is for Helen to collect the car which a Budget staff member delivers to the hotel at 9am. On the phone Helen had asked for a car one category up from the smallest (one company had offered us a Getz but we didn’t think that Daniel’s 6ft4 would fit into that!). They had quoted us $115 for 3 day hire of a Pulsar or similar, but when Helen gets downstairs there is a shiny gold Magna waiting for us. We don’t know yet if they are going to want to charge any more for it because the computers are down so Connie, the little German girl who delivers the car, has to take down Helen’s details by hand on an old-fashioned paper form.
We don’t know where the café strip is in Adelaide so cruise up O’Connell St in North Adelaide heading for the Main North Rd which will take us to the Barossa. We stop at Café Vicino for breakfast. It only has a few patrons so doesn’t have the atmosphere of Gino’s in Fremantle, but it isn’t too bad. Daniel has pancakes with fruit salad, maple syrup and cream (no huge strawberries this time) with a vanilla milkshake and Helen has a huge ham and cheese croissant with a wildberry smoothie which tastes more like a berry milkshake. Then we start following the signs to the Barossa Valley.
Although it has been raining all morning we decide to see if the Whispering Wall works in the rain, so take the turn off to Gawler and on to the Barossa Reservoir. The Whispering Wall is the sweeping arc concrete wall of the reservoir itself. Daniel stood next to the wall whilst Helen ran around the top to the other end, 140m away. As she ran Daniel could hear her footsteps the whole way, including the rustling of her jeans. From one end, a normal speaking voice can be heard at the other end as though the speaker were standing next to you. The acoustic effect was pretty cool, but the most amazing thing for us, coming from drought-stricken Sydney, was the fact that the dam was full! The water level was only 1m below the walkway. OK, so this was only a small local area dam, but the day’s constant rain and the lush surrounds was a bit of a different world.
The sightseeing over, it was time to down to the serious business of tracking down more of the Langton’s Auction List wines. There were heaps of them in the Barossa Valley. Our first stop was at St Hallet, where we saw Stewy a green parrot at the entrance to the cellar door. He was looking a bit chilly on this damp morning. At St Hallet we were after their Old Block Shiraz.
The next winery on the list was Rochford, just across the main road from St Hallet. We found the winery, but also found a sign hanging from the wall saying they were now closed on Sundays to eek out their wine stocks. Drat. Oh well, plenty more wineries to visit in the Barossa… in fact, the next one on the list was about 300m further down the road. At Charles Melton Wines there were a pair of cats curled up in a directors chair next to the fireplace, the woman running the tastings laughingly suggested Daniel could fight the cats for the chair as he wasn’t tasting. He didn’t try it. We picked up the 9 Popes Shiraz blend and, as Helen had just acquired a father-in-law and it is his birthday the day we get back to Sydney, we also picked up a bottle of the Father-in-Law Shiraz. There was a cool series of cartoon posters on the wall about the father-in-law, one of which is on the bottle label.
Peer Lehmann was our next winery, another familiar name. We picked up the Stonewall Shiraz. We also learnt from one of the staff that Henschke, the winery we were about to head for next and the one we were most looking forward to in the Barossa as it had heaps of wines on the Langton’s List, was also closed on Sundays. It was lucky she told us as Henschke is a fair hike from the Barossa into the neighbouring Eden Valley.
As Henschke was closed and it was 1pm we decided to head for lunch. Not just a quick take-away snack this time – we were in Maggie Beer territory! We cut through some back roads and found Pheasant Farm and the Maggie Beer shop. They run a 2-course lunch for $25. All their tables were booked out and it was too wet to eat outside, but the waitress checked her bookings and one of the tables wasn’t needed for another hour so she was happy for us to use that one. It had a pleasant view of the little lake on one side of the shop, with water fowl swimming around – we wondered if they were the next day’s ingredients!
Lunch arrived, first pate with a side dish of caramelised onions and lovely little brioche, flavoured with a little shredded citrus peel, instead of crackers. There hadn’t been any choice about the entrée, but Daniel, who is not an offal man, bravely ate most of his. For main Daniel had a crispy skin chicken infused with herbs and drizzled with aioli, crispy slices of potato, grilled artichoke and witlof. Helen tried the game pie (any water fowl from the lake?) served with cabernet sauce, roasted fennel and baby carrots and a little rocket. They were both very, very nice. At one of the wineries later that day we heard that the Maggie Beer shop could be closing soon so, despite Helen’s dithering about price and whether she could eat a 2-course meal for lunch, we were glad we’d tried it while we had the chance. On the way out we tried some of the sauces but, as our bags are already over weight, only bought a small tub of Blood Plum Paste (as a change from quince paste) to have with the Margaret River cheeses in the fridge at the hotel.
As Henschke were now off today’s list we went on to perhaps the biggest name in the Barossa Valley, Penfolds. In the car park we discovered that we had neglected to write down the Langton’s List wines we needed to drool over (we didn’t expect to be able to afford to buy them all today, the big name also has a big price tag). Helen tasted anyway – we may as well get an idea of what their range taste like in case we ever decide to indulge ourselves. We ended up with a bottle of Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon to drink while we are waiting the 10+ years cellaring for all those Langton’s List wines. Boy are we going to have a lot of good wines to choose from in 10 years time! Penfolds have another winery at Magill, 15 minutes from Adelaide, so all is not lost for our quest.
Onwards to Elderton for the Command Shiraz and another between-times bottle, a 2002 Cab Sav. Then a bit of back-roads guess work (these free maps from the tourist info centres don’t show all the streets or street names, very confusing) to end up at the Barossa Valley Estate for the E&E Black Pepper Shiraz. As Daniel, who loves his pepper, loves the characteristically peppery taste of shiraz, this seemed an apt name for a shiraz! The winery also had on their shelf magnums of 2001 shiraz for only $28, which seemed a bit of a bargain, but they didn’t have any to taste and the girl serving us blithely told us that 2001 had been a crap year as it was too long and hot and that 2002 had been a much better year for the shiraz. Needless to say we made sure we bought a 2002 Black Pepper Shiraz! Even 10 years of cellaring won’t help much if the vintage wasn’t too good to begin with!
Our last winery for the day was another big name, Seppelt, where we picked up the Dorrien Cabernet before finding our way to the Sturt Highway and pointed the Magna South. In the midst of full-blown winery country and we were still so close to the city, particularly compared to the long drive from Margaret River only a few days earlier. This didn’t help Helen, however, who finds sitting doing nothing in the passenger seat of a car irresistibly soporific at the best of times, let alone after seven wineries! She woke up about 10 minutes from the hotel to find Daniel grim-faced– he’d had stomach cramps on the way and was desperate to get back to the hotel before exploding.
Back at the hotel and an Immodium later Helen went for a walk to see if she could find a supermarket still open – we hadn’t had any luck with this in Fremantle and so far hadn’t found a nearby supermarket open late in Adelaide either! Eureka! She found a little store, a greengrocer and an organic butcher hiding beside a neon sign for a day/night chemist and was finally able to stock up on fruit, plus some salad to have for dinner with the Margaret River cheese.
Whilst Daniel relaxed in a hot bath to sooth his stomach Helen started to catch up on 4 days of missing journal entries – a bit daunting but we don’t want to get to the end of our honeymoon and wonder what we did for the month!
We had a comfortable and companiable evening grazing on Margaret River cheese, cold meats, Maggie Beer’s blood plum paste, tabouleh and tossed salad with half a bottle of a Barossa Valley cab sav on the bed watching Sunday night TV.
We don’t know where the café strip is in Adelaide so cruise up O’Connell St in North Adelaide heading for the Main North Rd which will take us to the Barossa. We stop at Café Vicino for breakfast. It only has a few patrons so doesn’t have the atmosphere of Gino’s in Fremantle, but it isn’t too bad. Daniel has pancakes with fruit salad, maple syrup and cream (no huge strawberries this time) with a vanilla milkshake and Helen has a huge ham and cheese croissant with a wildberry smoothie which tastes more like a berry milkshake. Then we start following the signs to the Barossa Valley.
Although it has been raining all morning we decide to see if the Whispering Wall works in the rain, so take the turn off to Gawler and on to the Barossa Reservoir. The Whispering Wall is the sweeping arc concrete wall of the reservoir itself. Daniel stood next to the wall whilst Helen ran around the top to the other end, 140m away. As she ran Daniel could hear her footsteps the whole way, including the rustling of her jeans. From one end, a normal speaking voice can be heard at the other end as though the speaker were standing next to you. The acoustic effect was pretty cool, but the most amazing thing for us, coming from drought-stricken Sydney, was the fact that the dam was full! The water level was only 1m below the walkway. OK, so this was only a small local area dam, but the day’s constant rain and the lush surrounds was a bit of a different world.
The sightseeing over, it was time to down to the serious business of tracking down more of the Langton’s Auction List wines. There were heaps of them in the Barossa Valley. Our first stop was at St Hallet, where we saw Stewy a green parrot at the entrance to the cellar door. He was looking a bit chilly on this damp morning. At St Hallet we were after their Old Block Shiraz.
The next winery on the list was Rochford, just across the main road from St Hallet. We found the winery, but also found a sign hanging from the wall saying they were now closed on Sundays to eek out their wine stocks. Drat. Oh well, plenty more wineries to visit in the Barossa… in fact, the next one on the list was about 300m further down the road. At Charles Melton Wines there were a pair of cats curled up in a directors chair next to the fireplace, the woman running the tastings laughingly suggested Daniel could fight the cats for the chair as he wasn’t tasting. He didn’t try it. We picked up the 9 Popes Shiraz blend and, as Helen had just acquired a father-in-law and it is his birthday the day we get back to Sydney, we also picked up a bottle of the Father-in-Law Shiraz. There was a cool series of cartoon posters on the wall about the father-in-law, one of which is on the bottle label.
Peer Lehmann was our next winery, another familiar name. We picked up the Stonewall Shiraz. We also learnt from one of the staff that Henschke, the winery we were about to head for next and the one we were most looking forward to in the Barossa as it had heaps of wines on the Langton’s List, was also closed on Sundays. It was lucky she told us as Henschke is a fair hike from the Barossa into the neighbouring Eden Valley.
As Henschke was closed and it was 1pm we decided to head for lunch. Not just a quick take-away snack this time – we were in Maggie Beer territory! We cut through some back roads and found Pheasant Farm and the Maggie Beer shop. They run a 2-course lunch for $25. All their tables were booked out and it was too wet to eat outside, but the waitress checked her bookings and one of the tables wasn’t needed for another hour so she was happy for us to use that one. It had a pleasant view of the little lake on one side of the shop, with water fowl swimming around – we wondered if they were the next day’s ingredients!
Lunch arrived, first pate with a side dish of caramelised onions and lovely little brioche, flavoured with a little shredded citrus peel, instead of crackers. There hadn’t been any choice about the entrée, but Daniel, who is not an offal man, bravely ate most of his. For main Daniel had a crispy skin chicken infused with herbs and drizzled with aioli, crispy slices of potato, grilled artichoke and witlof. Helen tried the game pie (any water fowl from the lake?) served with cabernet sauce, roasted fennel and baby carrots and a little rocket. They were both very, very nice. At one of the wineries later that day we heard that the Maggie Beer shop could be closing soon so, despite Helen’s dithering about price and whether she could eat a 2-course meal for lunch, we were glad we’d tried it while we had the chance. On the way out we tried some of the sauces but, as our bags are already over weight, only bought a small tub of Blood Plum Paste (as a change from quince paste) to have with the Margaret River cheeses in the fridge at the hotel.
As Henschke were now off today’s list we went on to perhaps the biggest name in the Barossa Valley, Penfolds. In the car park we discovered that we had neglected to write down the Langton’s List wines we needed to drool over (we didn’t expect to be able to afford to buy them all today, the big name also has a big price tag). Helen tasted anyway – we may as well get an idea of what their range taste like in case we ever decide to indulge ourselves. We ended up with a bottle of Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon to drink while we are waiting the 10+ years cellaring for all those Langton’s List wines. Boy are we going to have a lot of good wines to choose from in 10 years time! Penfolds have another winery at Magill, 15 minutes from Adelaide, so all is not lost for our quest.
Onwards to Elderton for the Command Shiraz and another between-times bottle, a 2002 Cab Sav. Then a bit of back-roads guess work (these free maps from the tourist info centres don’t show all the streets or street names, very confusing) to end up at the Barossa Valley Estate for the E&E Black Pepper Shiraz. As Daniel, who loves his pepper, loves the characteristically peppery taste of shiraz, this seemed an apt name for a shiraz! The winery also had on their shelf magnums of 2001 shiraz for only $28, which seemed a bit of a bargain, but they didn’t have any to taste and the girl serving us blithely told us that 2001 had been a crap year as it was too long and hot and that 2002 had been a much better year for the shiraz. Needless to say we made sure we bought a 2002 Black Pepper Shiraz! Even 10 years of cellaring won’t help much if the vintage wasn’t too good to begin with!
Our last winery for the day was another big name, Seppelt, where we picked up the Dorrien Cabernet before finding our way to the Sturt Highway and pointed the Magna South. In the midst of full-blown winery country and we were still so close to the city, particularly compared to the long drive from Margaret River only a few days earlier. This didn’t help Helen, however, who finds sitting doing nothing in the passenger seat of a car irresistibly soporific at the best of times, let alone after seven wineries! She woke up about 10 minutes from the hotel to find Daniel grim-faced– he’d had stomach cramps on the way and was desperate to get back to the hotel before exploding.
Back at the hotel and an Immodium later Helen went for a walk to see if she could find a supermarket still open – we hadn’t had any luck with this in Fremantle and so far hadn’t found a nearby supermarket open late in Adelaide either! Eureka! She found a little store, a greengrocer and an organic butcher hiding beside a neon sign for a day/night chemist and was finally able to stock up on fruit, plus some salad to have for dinner with the Margaret River cheese.
Whilst Daniel relaxed in a hot bath to sooth his stomach Helen started to catch up on 4 days of missing journal entries – a bit daunting but we don’t want to get to the end of our honeymoon and wonder what we did for the month!
We had a comfortable and companiable evening grazing on Margaret River cheese, cold meats, Maggie Beer’s blood plum paste, tabouleh and tossed salad with half a bottle of a Barossa Valley cab sav on the bed watching Sunday night TV.
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