Barossa Valley Day Trip from Adelaide

The Barossa Valley is one of the world’s great wine regions, and it’s an easy day trip from Adelaide. It’s about 70 km north of the city, just over an hour in the car, with more than 90 cellar doors, some of the oldest Shiraz vines on earth, and plenty of good food in between.

We’re Carl and Ing, and we’ve spent our lives exploring the Barossa. Here’s how we’d plan a day there: how to get there, what to drink, which cellar doors are worth your time, where to eat, and how the day can run.

How far is the Barossa from Adelaide?

About 70 km, or a little over an hour’s drive north of the city. Most people take the Northern Expressway, which is the quickest way. The prettier route runs through the Adelaide Hills and adds about half an hour, with views over the hills and vineyards on the way.

The Barossa itself is spread out. The towns of Tanunda, Nuriootpa and Angaston are 10 to 15 minutes apart, and the cellar doors are scattered between them, so you’ll be in a car all day either way.

How to get there

You have four options, and they suit different people.

• Drive yourself

  It’s the cheapest way, but someone has to stay sober all day, and that takes a lot of the fun out of a wine region. South Australia has random breath testing, and the limit is 0.05.

• Public transport

  It only gets you to the edge of the region. The cellar doors are spread across the valley, so it isn’t a practical way to visit them.

• A group bus tour

  A good budget option. You’ll share the day with strangers and follow a fixed route, with a set number of stops and little time at each.

• A private tour

  Your own driver picks you up from your door and plans the day around what you like. It’s the most relaxed way to do it, and with two or three of you it often costs less than people expect. See our Barossa tour

What to drink in the Barossa

The Barossa is famous for Shiraz: rich, warm and full of dark fruit. Because the region escaped the phylloxera outbreak that wiped out vineyards across Europe, some of its vines are well over 100 years old, and a few date back to the 1840s. Old vines give smaller crops with more concentrated flavour, and tasting them is a big part of why people come.

Look out for Grenache and Mataro too, on their own or blended with Shiraz, often sold as a GSM. They’re lighter and spicier than Shiraz and are some of the most exciting wines in the region right now.

Up in the hills beside the valley, the cooler Eden Valley makes some of Australia’s best Riesling: dry, crisp and full of lime. If you prefer whites, it’s worth working into your day.

And don’t skip the fortifieds. The Barossa has made tawny and other fortified wines for over a century, and some cellar doors pour wines older than any of us. Weighing it up against the other regions? See how the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills compare.

Cellar doors worth your time

There are more than 90 to choose from. These are some we love, and a good mix of big names and small family producers.

Tanunda

Chateau Tanunda

You can’t miss it: a grand bluestone and red-brick chateau with a tall brick chimney, right on the edge of town. It was built in 1890, and when it opened it was the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere. After years of neglect, the Geber family bought it in 1998 and restored it, and it’s now one of the best-looking cellar doors in the region. Taste in the old building, then take a stroll out to the croquet lawn.

Angaston

Yalumba

Australia’s oldest family-owned winery. Samuel Smith, a brewer from Dorset in England, bought the land here in 1849, and the fifth generation of his family still runs it. The marble cellar with its clock tower was finished in 1908, and Yalumba still makes its own barrels in its own cooperage, one of very few wineries in the world that do. Try the Eden Valley Viognier, and The Signature, its classic Cabernet and Shiraz blend.

Tanunda

Rockford

Wine made the old way, with basket presses and century-old equipment. Famous for its Basket Press Shiraz and sparkling Black Shiraz.

Tanunda

Charles Melton

A small family winery with a relaxed verandah over the vines. Try the Nine Popes, a Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro blend.

 

Seppeltsfield

A historic estate from 1851, with old stone buildings, a palm-lined avenue and fortified wines going back more than 100 years.

Tanunda

Langmeil

Home of the Freedom Vineyard, planted in 1843 and some of the oldest surviving Shiraz vines in the world.

Eden Valley

Henschke

Run by the same family since 1868 and home of Hill of Grace, one of Australia’s most famous Shiraz.

Some cellar doors charge a small tasting fee, often waived if you buy a bottle. Seated and premium tastings need booking, especially on weekends.

A break from the wine

If someone in your group isn’t a big wine drinker, or you just fancy a change, stop in at Seppeltsfield Road Distillers in Marananga. It’s one of South Australia’s most awarded gin distilleries, and its Barossa Shiraz Gin, made with local Shiraz, scored 99 points at the International Wine & Spirit Competition. You taste a flight of their gins with the copper still on show behind the glass walls of the still house. It’s just down the road from Seppeltsfield, so it fits easily into a day.

Where to eat

Lunch is a highlight of any Barossa day. A few of our favourites:

• Fino at Seppeltsfield. Simple, local, seasonal food among the estate’s old stone buildings.
• Hentley Farm. Fine dining with a long degustation, for a special occasion.
• Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop, Nuriootpa. Relaxed, with tastings of her famous produce.
• The Barossa Farmers Market, Angaston. On Saturday mornings, for coffee, pastries and local produce.

The Barossa’s German heritage shows up in the bakeries too, so leave room for a bienenstich or some streusel.