Private Wine Tour Adelaide Hills

The Adelaide Hills sit just twenty minutes from the city, yet feel a world away. Elevation and a genuinely cool climate make this South Australia’s home of elegant Chardonnay, textural Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and outstanding sparkling wine – a completely different style to the warmer valleys either side of it.

Little Ing Wine Tours offer a private, personalized and intimate way to enjoy a Wine Tour in the Adelaide Hills with a tailored itinerary to you to make the most of your visit, crafted by experienced locals. The perfect choice for wine enthusiasts, wine-curious and tourists alike.

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Our Private Tour Experience

Tour the Adelaide Hills with your own private, fun, and knowledgeable guide. We love to craft a tour based on your particular tastes and interests and we can curate an entire day for you, take you to places you have been recommended, or a combination of the two.

We like to mix in small family-owned wineries, and some of the larger, more well-known locations to add variety and ensure you see all of the best the region has to offer. The Hills are also home to excellent gin distilleries, cider makers and cheese producers, so there is plenty of scope to mix in whatever you love most!

Inclusions: Private pick-up from your location, a curated and relaxed tour of the Adelaide Hills (approx. 7–8 hours), and cellar door and lunch bookings.

Note: Due to the bespoke nature of our tours and in order to provide our service at the best rate possible, there will be some small wine tasting fees at certain venues. Lunch is extra, though we can provide many options, from pies to pizzas to pubs to fine dining.

The Adelaide Hills at a Glance

- Located 20Kms (approx. 25 minutes) from the city centre
- Recommended Tour length: 7-8 hours
- Famous Wineries: Shaw + Smith, Petaluma, Bird in Hand, Sidewood, Nepenthe, Hahndorf Hill and 90 more!

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Big blue sky over vineyard rows in the Adelaide Hills

—Pngtree—wine barrel keg with grape_13029359

bespoke food cart with butterfly garden mural

white deck chairs sit next to the cellar-door overlooking the vineyard and rolling hills

guest laughing over a glass of red at a barossa winery dinner

an elegant foyer of wine barrels and plants

young couple sit in front of the bespoke brick wall at a wine region restaurant

glasses of red wine lined up on a stone cellar door bar

Sherrah wines lined up for tasting at the cellar door

white gravel perched deck chairs sit in front of a glass walled room with gum trees all around

guest holding a giant bottle of wine at a barossa cellar door

a young woman poses next to a wine barrel in a display room in an old fashioned cellar

three tourists stand next to a cellar door under a blue sky and surrounded by trees

three tourists gather in front of bright red vine leaves hanging from the eaves

A tasting paddle of four craft beers on a sunny deck

cellar door cat sitting on the wine shelves

a big room with gold dandelion chandelier and coffee tables

Dandelion Vineyards wines lined up by the cellar door window

two guests with arms raised in a brick archway overlooking the vineyard

a young couple stand cuddled together on a green lawn in picturesque farmland

a selection of breads, cheeses and meats and olives sits on a marble platter

a pair of yellow deck chairs sit on a green lawn under a bright blue sky overlooking a vineyard

a man stands in front of a cellar door sign in a treelined carpark

Sample Adelaide Hills Wine Tour Itinerary

This is an example of a day out with Little Ing Wine Tours in the Adelaide Hills. Note that we will curate this to accommodate you and whatever you might like to see and taste. No two tours are ever the same. The stops below are an example of how the day can run, not a fixed list – we’ll confirm the cellar doors and lunch with you beforehand, subject to availability.

Adelaide Hills Wine Tour Pricing

Our private, personalised Wine Tours in the Adelaide Hills start at just $250 per person (minimum tour size of 2). Bringing a third? They ride free, so it’s still $500 for the three of you.

We’ll pick you up at your location, be that your home, a hotel or other accommodation, and climb the freeway into the Hills. Being the closest region to the city, you get more time in the vineyards and less time in the car.

Shaw + Smith

Our first stop is Shaw + Smith at Balhannah, one of the names that defined modern Adelaide Hills wine. The cellar door is a beautiful piece of architecture looking straight out over the vines.

Their Sauvignon Blanc rewrote what Australia expected from the variety, and the M3 Chardonnay is regarded as one of the country’s best. A seated tasting here is a great way to understand what cool climate really means.

Nepenthe

A short hop further along at Balhannah brings us to Nepenthe, one of the wineries that helped prove what the Adelaide Hills could do. It went in during the mid-1990s, when the region was still making its name, and backed the cool-climate varieties that now define it.

The name comes from Homer – a draught said to chase away sorrow. Expect Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay carrying the freshness the altitude gives them.

Hahndorf

Next, a wander through Hahndorf – Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement, founded in 1839. The main street is lined with old stone buildings, bakeries, providores and pubs. It is a genuine change of pace mid-tour, and a good chance to stretch the legs between tastings.

Lunch at The Lane Vineyard

Enjoy a long lunch at The Lane Vineyard, perched above the Hills with one of the best views in South Australia. The kitchen leans heavily on Hills produce, and the wines are poured metres from where they were grown. On a clear day you can see all the way out across the ranges. Lunch is booked on request and subject to availability – if it’s full on the day, there are plenty of other good options nearby.

Bird in Hand Winery

Our final stop is Bird in Hand at Woodside, a family-owned estate as well known for its sparkling wines as its still ones. The cellar door is relaxed and generous, and it is a lovely place to finish the day with a glass of their sparkling Pinot Noir before we head back down the hill.

And its time for the return trip. We’ll have you safely back at your home location by approximately 4pm, with a dinner booking if you request one.

Why Choose the Adelaide Hills for a Wine Tour?

Grapes were planted in the Adelaide Hills as early as 1839, but the region as we know it today was really shaped in the 1970s, when a new generation recognised that its altitude and cool climate could produce something no other South Australian region could. That instinct proved correct, and the Hills are now considered one of Australia’s premier cool climate regions.

Sitting between 400 and 600 metres above sea level, the Hills are markedly cooler than the valleys either side. That translates into wines with natural acidity, restraint and length – Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and some of the best sparkling wine made in the country.

There is a reason to visit in every season. Spring is green and full of blossom, Summer stays noticeably cooler up here than on the plains, and Autumn turns the whole region gold and copper. Winter brings log fires, fog through the gum trees and the cosiest cellar doors in the state.

Being only twenty minutes from the CBD, the Adelaide Hills is also the easiest region to reach – which means less time travelling and more time actually enjoying yourself.