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SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BAROSSA
SPIT 'N' SPOKES The Barossa, not far from Adelaide, offers great roads, wine and food… STORY BY: ROD EIME | PHOTOS: Rod Eime/Barossa Grape & Wine/Sven Kovacs
R
iding the Adelaide Hills in glorious spring sunshine is a heady mix of nostalgia and exuberance. Growing up in these parts reminds me of my enthusiastic youth when the neighbourhood lads would scream through these serpentine roads on our “too-fast” motorcycles and modified cars during that immortal period of our lives. Sadly, some of us gained eternal life in a way they had not considered. Now, some two score years and 8.75 lives later, I am revisiting these highways and byways in a much more circumspect fashion. Today, it is me holding up the traffic, rejoicing in the rich aroma of redgum and fragrant eucalypt blossom while rubber-necking the heritage buildings and panoramic vistas. One of my distinct recollections of childhood in the Adelaide Hills is the acres and acres of apples and pears that grew around Summertown, Ashton and Uraidla. Of course, we used to snack on them while riding our pushbikes. Now many of those old orchards are gone, replaced with rows and rows of vines that just love the cooler climate and higher rainfall of this ancient former mountain range.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BAROSSA
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HOW TO TASTE AND SPIT
Unless you’ve parked the bike and are on a minibus winery tour, you’ll need to learn the art of spitting as part of your wine-tasting routine. We asked international wine writer and judge, Winsor Dobbin, how to expel your wine without making a drip of yourself. “There is more to wine tasting than swirling liquid around in your mouth; you also need to use your eyes and your nose to determine whether a wine is in the perfect condition for enjoyment or has been affected by age, oxidation or a faulty cork. “First check out a wine’s colour range to ensure it does not look thin, too brown or have bits of cork floating in it. Next, give the glass a swirl and hover over the top, taking several deep sniffs. If the wine smells like damp cardboard it may be ‘corked’ or have been infected with smells from a faulty closure. “Try to avoid wines that smell of vinegar (volatile acidity), a nail polish smell (ethyl acetate) or sweaty saddles/cow barn floor (brettanomyces — an undesirable yeast). Instead try to find floral and fruit notes that indicate the appeal of the wine. If you can smell toast, smoke, vanilla, chocolate, coffee or roasted nuts, you are probably picking up scents from a wine that was aged in new oak barrels. “Next, take a sip and suck on the wine. You’ll hopefully find a range of fruit, flower, herb, mineral, barrel and other flavours. Spit out your sample and enjoy the wine.”
"…more than a century of twowheel history…" If you’re a motorcycle-riding wine lover as I have grown to be, you can begin a ride to the fabled Barossa, Eden Valley and even the Clare Valley by heading due east out of the city up twisty Greenhill Road (now B26), as we did, plotting a course via Lobethal, Birdwood and Eden Valley for a scenic “back door” entry into the Barossa. Norton Summit Road (B27) is an equally exciting option. Check out adelaidehillswine.com.au
LOB INTO LOBETHAL Established by devout Prussian settlers soon after the colony itself was founded, Lobethal (Valley of Praise) has always been a little hub of primary industry and is now the unofficial headquarters of Hills riders with a boutique brewery, an excellent bakery, two pubs and the motorcycle-themed cafe, The Amberlight Cafe. Local producers and artisans display their wares in the old Woollen Mill. The road from Ashton (B27) to Lobethal via Lenswood is a testing switchback that will bite the unwary, so please ride to the conditions.
BARREL INTO BIRDWOOD
Riding the under the old rail bridge at Clare, now part of the Riesling Trail (RE).
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Another old Prussian settlement, once known as Blumberg, was not returned to its former name after WWI. Always a town with a basis in tourism, Birdwood’s national fame revolves around the National Motor Museum which celebrates automotive industry and culture in Australia. There is a hall devoted to motorcycles with more than a century of two-wheel history on display.
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BAROSSA
SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BAROSSA
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GARDEN OF EDEN The Eden Valley is a sub-region of the Barossa with its own style and flavour and home to famous labels such as Henschke and Pewsey Vale. We stopped for a fabulous lunch at the 1860s Eden Valley Hotel, where our host Cass not only fed us to repletion, but introduced us to the small-batch wines from Max & Me where they enjoy an exclusive position on the top shelf. Max, by the way, is winemaker Phil Lehmann’s dog. These open-fermented Boongarrie Estate beauties are gaining high 90s from the big-knob critics and perfectly complement chef Cheryl’s stunning dishes, like 18-hour Scotch fillet, the game pie floater and the hand-crumbed chicken schnitzel (with pepper and bearnaise sauces) which ranks as one of the best I’ve eaten — and I’ve had a few! edenvalleyhotel.com.au
Don’t be afraid to take a big sniff - and spit! (supplied).
THE MAP
"…we stopped for a fabulous lunch…"
https://bit.ly/3eTOT7S
Australian Road Rider, in conjunction with TomTom, is going to provide routes for tours where we can. The map published here points you in the right direction. Follow the link or scan the QR code open up on your phone or computer. Download the free MyDrive TomTom App and you can save the route, add it to trips on your TomTom Device and more.
BAROSSA OR BUST From Eden Valley, take the B10 through Angaston and head into the heart of the Barossa and the twin towns of Tanunda and Nuriootpa. The locals just call the latter “Nuri” to avoid the constant confusion between ootPA and oop-TA. Oot-PA is correct BTW. The alternate route via Tanunda Creek Road, past the Kaiserstuhl Reserve and Mengler’s Hill Lookout/Sculpture Park is a more rewarding ride if you ask me. Here in Tanunda, the tourism epicentre of the Barossa, you have the concentration of top-shelf eateries and shopping along, or just off, the main street. Nuri is where most services, supermarkets and big-box outlets are located so is favoured by the locals. That said, you’ll find the Barossa distillers up this end of town. Accommodation is spread evenly throughout the Barossa and ranges through every type, from hotels, motels and resorts to caravan parks and B&Bs. If you’re just a few riders or a couple of couples, you might favour the more intimate boutique style, whereas groups of all sizes will find caravan parks are no longer the muddy, motley trailer yards of old and now offer such classy options as luxurious safari tents and modern, fully equipped cabins. See our breakout for more details.
Link: https://bit.ly/3eTOT7S To use the QR code, open your phone’s camera over the QR code and it will open the map in the MyDrive App (if you’ve installed it) or a web browser. Note, MyDrive is not a turn-by-turn navigator, but trip planning software.
TEAR INTO CLARE An optional extension to any Barossa ride is the Clare Valley, another of Adelaide’s high-producing wine regions and home to another 50 wineries and cellar doors including the big Leasingham concern and boutique producers like Mr Mick and the delightfully reckless Mad Bastard, the brainchild — if you’ll excuse the reference — of Jim Barry’s son, Mark. Or just MB to his mates. The Mid North detour, via Kapunda and Auburn along the B81 and B82, is a loop of about 200km with some great roads that will stretch your bike’s legs and
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Please let us know if you have success or troubles, this sytem is still a work in progress – npaterson@ umco.com.au. Cass fed us to repletion at the historic Eden Valley Hotel (RE)
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BAROSSA
SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S BAROSSA
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"…Lobethal via Lenswood is a testing switchback…" take you through some of the state’s historic farming areas including Mintaro, where the 140-year-old Martindale Hall is located. The Magpie and Stump Hotel is also a popular spot for riders. Clare township (www.clarevalley.com.au) is a familiar rural South Australian layout with good services and accommodation options. The long-established Main Street Bakehouse turned out some great pies and coffee, with their Ned Kelly and Shiraz meat pies as standouts.
RETURN JOURNEY Heading back to Adelaide, you can either retrace your steps out to the east via the Australia Plains, Truro and Eudunda or cut and run the boring route via Gawler and the main A1 if you’ve had your fill. A comprehensive resource for every visitor to the Barossa including where to eat, sleep, taste and frolic is at www.barossa.com
Lay me down to sleep We chose to stay at the Discovery Parks properties in Tanunda and Clare, which we reckon offer the perfect blend of hotel-quality accommodation and camping facilities in the one location. Ideal for groups or couples, Discovery Parks transcend the outdated notion of “caravan park” and offer a true vacation destination. You can choose modern, fully self-contained cabins that sleep up to six, or throw down a swag on the soft lawn area. When you include the G’Day Parks brand (formerly Top Parks), there are more than 270 locations dotted all around the country, so you’ll never be scrambling for somewhere to kip. discoveryholidayparks.com.au Many of the wineries will also offer accommodation. Both Lambert Estate and Elderton have whole cottages on site suitable for small groups. aRr
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Top Tucker
Old school metalwork (above): food, glorious food (below). (Supplied).
RIDE WITH FRIENDS
The Motorcycle Society rides twice per month with many rides into the hills and beyond. They meet at the Taylors Blend Coffee Shop on Hallett Road, Stonyfell. www.facebook.com/themotorcyclesociety.
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With just two or three days to explore the region and still get some riding in, we sought advice from Tourism Barossa and expert colleagues to come up with these gems.
Lambert Estate: At the winery (see below) there’s also a superb restaurant helmed by chef Roger Farley, who has a touch of “mad scientist” about him. His triple-cooked, hand-cut potato wedges and mandarin-glazed carrots are ridiculously yummy and make an ideal accompaniment to his superb meat dishes like slow-cooked lamb shank and pork belly with red cabbage kimchi. All produce is grown on-site and meat procured locally. Enhancements are planned, including a state-of-the-art pizza oven. Ideal for groups and events of any size — just book well ahead. www.lambertestate.com Char Barossa: We had such a fun and satisfying dinner here with our host “Kiwi” Kieran and have to give it the massive thumbs up. After a nerveracking COVID shutdown, the team are back in full swing, cooking up a storm with everything from spicy churrasco to the best Wagyu beef. There’s a
great wine list too with some local surprises like Bruno & George’s delicate Montepulciano. I know, right? On the main street of Tanunda. Groups are welcome too. charbarossa.com.au
Noir, Zinfandel and Chardonnay infiltrate a wine list with such Barossa staples as Cab Sav and Shiraz. We all loved The Chocolatier, an aged Tawny that tastes like Christmas. lambertestate.com.au
Red Door Espresso: Also in the main street is this charming cafe that does the most amazing all-day breakfast dishes. I’m talking banoffee pancakes (with banana, caramel toffee and whipped mascarpone), green eggs benny stack (ham, avocado and poached free-range eggs) and a bacon and egg muffin like you’ve never seen. Sit in the quiet outdoor courtyard and enjoy. Ask chef Patti about her own Harley-Davidson adventures! reddoorespresso.com
Elderton: On the doorstep to Nuri is this century-old estate that began life as part of the Tolley empire. Bought by the Ashmead family in the ’70s, it was one of the few old vineyards that resisted the great “vine pull” of the mid-’70s when so many of the Barossa’s pioneer-era vines were lost in a misguided bureaucratic response to oversupply. Today, brothers Cameron and Allister run a most polished operation from the old family home where you can taste these masterful wines and admire the mantelpiece full of trophies and awards, including the 1993 Jimmy Watson Trophy that Allister confesses “turned the corner for us” and put Elderton on a permanent upward trajectory. If you’re looking for brilliant reds and are prepared to shell out, Elderton is worth the visit. But their Estate range makes for great value drinking too. eldertonwines.com.au
Top Drops Lambert Estate: This is a winery with a most unusual story, especially when you consider that, as Barossa folklore goes, you have to be born and buried for five generations before you can call yourself local. So when a Wisconsin farm boy (his words), Jim Lambert, cashed in his data storage business 20 years ago, he brought his massive windfall to the Barossa and set up Lambert Estates. His son Kirk went to Waite Agricultural College in Adelaide to learn winemaking where he met his beautiful wife, Vanesa. Now the two make magic in a bottle with a range of wines that step well outside the Barossa norm. Such varieties as Pinot
St Hallett: Another superb winery just south of Tanunda, with an excellent and wildly popular selection of quality wines including sparkling, whites and rose with grapes sourced from all around the valley. Try the excellent-value Gamekeeper’s range. sthallett.com.au
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