Day 15 - Barossa Valley

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After a thunderstorm during the night, the temperature has cooled down quite drastic from the previous day’s heat. We had an early morning to return the boat and so were cruising the last two miles to the drop off point while having breakfast. Next, we drove the 200 plus kilometres back to Adelaide to pick up the satellite telephone and the awning for our camper. Additionally we got the leaking roof fixed and extended the rental by 7 days.

We reached the Barossa Valley in the afternoon and started straight with the Wine tasting. We drove from Lyndoch to Tanunda and finally to Nuriootpa. Barossa is one of the biggest wine producing areas and well (or even best) known area for wines in Australia. Two things stood out for us. Firstly, there are many boutique wineries in the valley apart from the large estates and production facilities of Wolf Blass and Jacob’s Creek. Of course, we avoided the mass production and went to the smaller ones. The second observation we made is that many streets, company names and vineyards have German names. This is part because of the settlements established 160 years ago from people coming from Silesia.

Rose Garden in Chateau Barossa
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We visited first Chateau Barossa which stood out because of the nice setting, with many roses. They are famous for their liquors, such as Hazelnut, Chocolate or Coffee. Also their bottles are very special designed. Next we visited Turkey Flat. They have some great Chardonnay, Rose, Grenache, well we liked almost all except their ‘Butcher’s Block’. Next on the agenda was Liebich wines on Steingarten Road. We chose to visit it because of the German name. Their vineyard is now in the 5 generation of German descendents, although they do not speak it anymore. Their vineyard is quite small, but they have an amazing range of wines. We were not only able to taste their current wines, but also compare it with earlier years. Their port is quite nice and you should taste the one from the port barrel and compare it to the bottled one. Amazing the difference! We finished the day on the camping ground in Nuriootpa at the top end of Barossa valley.