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In the heart of Barossa Valley
Source: Inquirer
Author: Angelina G. Goloy
Date: 2001-09-02
 
Touring aboard the Wine Train



The Barossa Wine Train pulls up in Tanunda in the heart of Barossa Valley. It is one of four towns hosting the big wineries, the others being Lydoch, Nurioopta and Angaston.



While most passengers board coaches for the visit to the wineries, seven of us continue our tour in style, in a 1952 Chevrolet with two rows of back seats and a small tow luggage compartment.



A day of touring usually covers about four or five wineries, more for private groups like ours. We covered seven. The first was St. Hallet Wines, best known for its Old Block Shiraz, which comes from 100-year-old vines.



A stone's throw away was The Keg Factory, not a winery but a manufacturer of handcrafted wine racks, stools and other bar furniture, as well as kegs from old barrels, permeated with fortified wines and spirits.



Basedow, the second oldest family-owned winery in the region, was founded in 1896 by Johannes Christopher Basedow, a carpenter who was among those that built some of the valley's landmarks, the winery included. From the street-level entrance, one descends a short flight of steps to get to the bar, right above which is the cellar and its rows of wine barrels.



While Basedow has the feel of a cozy log cabin on a rainy afternoon, the Peter Lehmann Wines cellar is a bright, breezy receiving room of a mansion on a sunny morn, complete with a fireplace and a view of the lawns on the banks of the Para River. Past the bar is a hall showcasing the winery's awards, foremost of which is "Best Reisling in the World," given at the 1998 Royal Melbourne Wine Show.



Straight out of a fairy tale book is the Richmond Grove winery, distinct with its handmade copper spire, a hawk weather vane perched on its tip. Where the path curves in front of the spire, a signpost shows visitors the way to other famous wineries in the neighborhood—Peter Lehmann, Langmeil, Veritas and Stanley Brothers.



On the lawns between Peter Lehmann and Richmond Grove, food, wine and music lovers gather one summer evening every year in February to watch international singing stars perform at the festival billed "Barossa Under the Stars."



From Elderton Wines, where the added attraction is an old delivery truck displayed on the front lawn, our group proceeded to Kaesler Wines, where we had kangaroo steak for lunch. The meat was so incredibly tender you almost did not have to chew it, but you'd probably be gritting your teeth trying your darnedest to keep the image of the marsupial out of your mind's eye.



Australia's oldest family-owned winery, Yalumba, capped the tour. Established in 1849, it hosts the "harvest market" as part of the Barossa Vintage Festival, that country's biggest regional wine festival held every other year in April.



By now our spirited lot was shying away from the bar and sauntering out into the gardens to soak in the afternoon sunshine, fanned gently by foliage.



As with the start, the tour ended with flair. Before delivering us to the Tanunda railway station for the train ride back to Adelaide, our guide stopped at Menglers Hill. There, as we looked out to the vineyards below, he handed one more glass of wine to each of us for a farewell toast to Barossa Valley. Cheers!





The South Australia Wine Enthusiasts Tour is available until Oct. 28. For details, call Qantas Holidays, (+63 2) 812-3734.







Petrini's protest gave rise to what is known today as the Slow Food Movement, a worldwide campaign to put the brakes on homogenous instant meals by preserving and reviving the distinct flavors and aromas of traditional regional cuisine, along with their history and folklore, as well as their proper appreciation.



Through food festivals and wine tasting conventions, its 65,000 disciples in 45 countries show the way to enjoy food—unhurriedly, in a relaxed ambience, and complemented by charming conversation and fine wine.



Australia—where I learned about the movement in a magazine article—is one of the countries where it is present. This comes as no surprise as Australia has a reputation for good food and wine, the main reasons, in fact, for my most recent trip there. Qantas, currently promoting a Wine Enthusiasts' Tour, arranged a sampling, with a culinary tour thrown in among other side servings.



The destination was South Australia, the premier wine state. "About 70 percent of the wines Australia exports come from this state," says Michael Seeliger, market coordinator for Asia-Japan of the South Australia Tourist Commission (SATC), in an interview in Adelaide, the state’s capital city. The wines are produced in over 100 wineries located in six major wine regions, the top ones being Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Coonawarra.



"Six out of 10 glasses of Australian wine—the best six—are made within three hours' drive of Adelaide," according to the itinerary prepared by the SATC. The city itself, it adds, is "where much of the Australian cuisine now delighting the world was created."



Wine tourism is the commission's key priority as South Australia attracts more visitors to wineries than any other state. Building on this strength, a Wine Tourism Advisory Board has recommended, among other strategies, the promotion of South Australia as "Wine Australia."



Naturally the highlight of my trip was a tour of the state's largest and best-known winemaking region—Barossa Valley, home to more than 50 large producers of mostly world-famous Shiraz and Reisling.



The valley owes its reputation for fine wines to a fertile soil and a Mediterranean climate (warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters). This being winter, the grape harvest begun in autumn continues, and vines are pruned—these days, mostly by machines, our guide says. Lemons, grapefruits, oranges, limes and other citrus fruits are also harvested.



The rich produce has inspired the region's tradition of growing, cooking, curing and preserving foods, handed down by the English and German families who settled there more than 150 years ago.



 

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