Pindarie

The Pindarie cellar door is located on the Barossa's western ridge and offers the visitor one of the best views in the Barossa (in my opinion!).

Pindarie rightly promotes itself as a family friendly winery. With both an outdoor playground and an indoor play area, they are able to host the little guests whatever the weather, which is very useful as we found out on our two visits. It was an especially hot day on our first visit in December. We particularly enjoyed sitting outside taking in the glorious views, under the shade of the big tree, sipping a glass of riesling and lemonade respectively. It is worth pointing out there is plenty of space inside and outside to accommodate larger parties, so there is no need to be afraid if you see a tour bus in the car park! Useful given Pindarie is a little further away than the bulk of the area's cellar doors.

Pindarie are known for their Mediterranean style wines and especially for their Tempranillo. Halliday describes the Reserve Black Hinge Tempranillo 2010 very highly, giving it 94 points, 'the deluxe, super-tall bottle has been matched with a sophisticated cork; the fruit is luscious and velvety as possible at this restrained alcohol level, with gently sliced plums running through it's fine, silky tannins and quality oak'. 13.5% alc. It's priced at $40. Other wines of note are the Barossa Valley Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Bar Rossa Tempranillo Sangiovese Shiraz which each score 90 points a piece.

The cellar door runs a successful restaurant which serves mediterrean style platters. There is a lovely log fire in the middle of the room which keeps all the diners warm in winter. The only downside of the cellar door design is that the tasting bar is separated from the play area by the inside dinning tables so parents with smaller children may not feel comfortable leaving their little ones alone if the restaurant space is busy. When we visited again in Autumn I played with our sons, who resourcefully transformed the dolls house in to a garage, whilst my husband and his friend enjoyed the Tempranillo.

The passion and interests of the owners is clearly reflected throughout Pindarie. Tony took over Pinadarie from his grandfather in 1990. Together with his wife Wendy, who had studied Viticulture at Roseworthy Agricultural College, they strived to create a sustainable property. Tony had jackarooed at many properties around Australia before graduating from Roseworthy in agricultural studies, and is proudly committed to sustainability. This is clearly evident in the beautiful natural outdoor play area they have created and the winery itself.

946 Rosedale Road

Gomersal

SA5352

Tel: 8524 9019

www.pindarie.com.au

Whistler Wines

Whistler Wines not only is the most child friendly winery that we have been to in the Barossa, it also makes lovely wine. Named after the family name of the owners Pfeiffer (which is a German noun and translates to whistler). It's very much a family run and family centred operation. Co-owner Chris explained to us that as their own children grew up living in the winery they wanted them to have things to play with whilst they were working and it all grew from there. With their own children now grown up, they are responsible for the day to day running of the winery. 

The winery is well located off the picturesque Seppletsfield Road. As you approach the entrance to the winery you are greated by a welcoming family cut out silhouette. Made from corrugated iron this is a style that continues throughout the cellar door. 

Parking is right by the cellar door and there are no troublesome steps to negotiate. 

Once inside we made our way straight to the tasting bar. Whistler produce three ranges, Premium Wines, Estate Range and Barossa Range. The wines are excellent value and my husband particularly enjoyed the Riesling. He purchased a bottle of the Albert Heinrich Shiraz for us to enjoy together at home. There is also a selection of tasty goods from neighbouring properties such as Maggie Beer's Farm shop on sale for those wishing to make their own picnic up to enjoy with a bottle or two in the grounds!

I always appreciate it when the cellar door has a toy area close to the tasting area. My son was in element making his way through the bucket of toys, at least until a tour bus arrived and he had to share his new found favourites! As there was so much else to do this was not an issue. The winery produces a handy leaflet 'Family Fun @ Whistler Wines' which includes a word find and Barossa I spy game to keep older kids entertained and tips on family things to do in the Barossa. There is even a treasure hunt and marked family walks on site too.

After a quick visit to the changing facilities we made our way outside to have a look around. 

Not only is there the usual cellar door outdoor favourites but there's a mini cricket wicket and playground too. I wondered how many 6's the onsite Roos have managed to catch of the years!

Access to the Kangaroos is via a locked gate so be sure to ask at the cellar door if you want to meet the resident bouncy friends. If it's quiet in the cellar door one of the team will be more than happy to take you and your family inside the enclosure.

After such a fun filled stop our elder son was certainly bouncing all the way to the car!

If you are coming to the Barossa Gourmet Weekend with kids, I'd make this cellar door one of your stops. Indeed if events are your thing then look out for some of the others that Whistler stage on Australia Day, Easter Sunday, June long weekend and October long weekend.

Chris and his wife Jayne even offer accomodation at their home Whistler Farm - www.whistlerfarm.com.au. I imagine their tastings would be great fun!

Excitingly for all our friends and family located in Wales UK you can buy Whistler wines in Mumbles Fine Wines. A mixed case will set you back £98 for six bottles!

241 Seppeltsfield Road, Marananga, Barossa Valley, South Australia, 5355

www.whistlerwines.com

Tel: 8562 4942

Artisans of Barossa

Artisans of Barossa is home to a selection of the region's like minded artisan winemakers who share a commitment to small batch sub-regional winemaking. This means you get to try one wine each from the 7 different wineries represented. These wines are regularly rotated and range in price and style. 

The wines are Hobbs of Barossa Ranges, John Duval Wines, Massena, Schwarz Wine Company, Sons of Eden, Spinifex and Teusner. They are all hand made.

The cellar door is bright, light and airy. There is a play area for the children to base themselves in. As it's a little way away from the bar I stayed with our boys and we played trains and read stories whilst my husband tasted. The play area is also home to the gallery exhibitions which was interesting too see, although I have to admit I was slightly nervous of the beautiful pottery at elbow height of my 3ft something son. Fortunately he was far more interested in the toys and all expensive items remained intact!

 

As my husband was particularly enjoying tasting Teunsner's The Righteous Grenache we headed to coffee bar for a cappaccino/ babycino and took in the view. I  tried to buy a little cake to share too but they just offer platters prepared by local renowned chef Mark McNamara (of the Louise hotel fame). These start from $17 per person and looked delicious.

On the way out a display of beautiful wooden jewellery made from old oak barrels caught my eye. I purchased a lovely bracelet for $40. 

The Artisans of Barossa theme their weekly tasting menu, for example at the time of writing it's Rhone Reds with a focus on the Shiraz varieties grown in the Barossa. It is well worth checking their website before deciding which day to visit in order to make the most of their exciting programme.

Artisans of Barossa Tasting Room, corner of Magnolia and Light Pass Road, Tanunda

www.artisansofbarossa.com

Tel: 08 8563 3935

Two Hands

I was excited at the prospect of visiting the cellar door of Two Hands as if the experience was half as fun as their 'picture series' wine labelling, then I knew we would be in for a treat!

Sourcing their grapes from 5 of South Australia's major wine regions (Clare Valley, Barossa Valley, McLaren, Langhorne Creek, Padthaway) and one from Victoria, their range is offers a great way to sample some of the breadth of flavours created in SA's wine regions (Adelaide Hills aside).  

I found the cellar door to be bright, modern and airy. The main focus of the room is the tasting bar which extends around, offering plenty of room for coach parties and smaller groups to all taste together. Importantly there is a seated area that children and non tasters can sit comfortably in. The back door to the room opens up on to a lovely terrace, which in turn goes down in to the garden area. Great for a summers day. If you have a pram it's actually easier to walk around the side of the main building and avoid the stairs. There are some very nice views of their vines, especially from the car park!

As I was the driver on this occasion, just my husband paid the $5 charitable donation to do the tasting flight. The flight included wines from the picture and garden series. If you love Shiraz then Two Hands really is a must do cellar door. With their wines consistently scoring 90 plus points from the experts, they are obviously rated well by those in the know. 

The team conducting the tasting were very friendly, welcoming and obviously good fun. It was great to be able to stand at the bar knowing our children could sit right by us and play quietly(ish). It took about thirty minutes for my husband to make his way through the 8 wines on offer. Long enough for my son and I to burn off lunch playing a little game of cricket on the lovely flat lawn! Incidentally if you want to eat at Two Hands then you need to plan to go on a Friday when they run their long lunches.

The parasols were down when I took this picture on our last visit in June as it was wet, but they were up when we visited in spring, when all the garden toys were out.

On returning home we enjoyed the 'Angel's Share' Shiraz (2012) over dinner, it was bold and delicious! A very tasty driver's perk and I am certainly pleased the angels left some for the rest of us! I was also happy to discover that Two Hands wines are readily available in the UK via Majestic. With Majestics minimum 6 bottle purchase it's a great excuse to explore the 'Garden Series' and the magic of South Australia's Shiraz. 

273 Neldner Road, Marananga, Barossa Valley, South Australia, 5355

www.twohandswines.com

James Halliday 5 star winery

Time of visits: April and June

Adelaide Wine Regions

South Australia is the engine room of the Australian wine industry producing around half the countries wine output. Adelaide, our home for the year, is perfectly situated in the middle of some of the states best wine areas.