Barossa Valley

Trip Start Dec 14, 2007

187

Trip End Mar 16, 2009

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Flag of Australia Barossa Valley, Australia
Friday, January 18, 2008

Unfortunately the week we spent in Adelaide there was absolutely nothing culturally happening so we created a little wine culture of our own, so we joined a full day Barossa Wine Tour. The tasting took us four wineries, 2 big famous wineries and 2 boutique wineries. We found the Barossa wines had strengths where the Margaret River wines (WA) lacked, i.e. depth and body - the characteristics we as South Africans have grown-up to love. Even their unwooded Chardonnays were impressive, Margaret River wins in the SSB (Semillon Sauvignon Blanc) category though. Many of the vineyards in the Barossa are more than a 100 years old thus providing a much experience, variety and complexity in their top wines.

The tour guide, Craig was a encyclopaedia of information, interesting facts I remember is that 80% of Australians wines come from the Barossa valley area, wine production is the biggest industry in SA, first vines were planted in about 1840 by German settlers, the area's original Spanish name was Barrosa, two r's till some one chap misspelt the name on a official document, thus you now drop a r and add an s

Giant rocking horse

!

Even though the wines were a little technically a little better the tour was not half as much fun as the Wine for Dudes tour in Margaret river where there was a much more festive atmosphere. Maybe the average age of the tour group being +50 had something to do with it, (sorry to all party animals over 50 ;-)

We ended the Barossa trip at the Barossa dam wall which was nicknamed the whispering wall. The crazy thing about the dam wall which was constructed more than 100 years ago is that the acoustics allow two people on each end of the 140m long wall to have a conversation by just whispering with your head close to the wall, very strange sensation.

Oh, almost forgot, we started the trip a bizarre place called the Big Rocking Horse, we quickly understood why. In front of the store stood a massive rocking horse which they claim is the biggest in the world, (like there was actually a competition). Even thought we did not pay the AU$2 to climb the giant rocking horse we did get up close and personal with a few peacocks, kangaroos and emu's in their animal sanctuary.