Recently, my wife and I visited the Clare Valley as part of our wedding anniversary and a short five day holiday to catch up with family and friends. We stayed at a BnB in Blyth (“Sunday School”- hosted by Robyn. Blyth is a small town in the mid-north of South Australia, and about 13km from Clare, the largest town in the region.

Part of the time was spent visiting the wineries in the Clare Valley Wine Region. It is one of the oldest wine regions in Australia. There are five districts or sub-regions in the valley: Auburn, Clare, Polish Hill River, Sevenhill and Watervale. The region has more than 48 wineries.

The main white variety is Riesling and the Clare Valley is regarded as its Australian home. The principal red varieties are Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. There are also many other lesser varieties of grapes that are planted in the region depending on soil type and climactic conditions. The region is also well known for winning a significant number of medals at wine shows for both red and white varieties of wine.

We visited four wineries while we were in the Clare Valley, a very small percentage of the total number, but each was unique in its own way. We visited Pikes, Jim Barry, Tim Adams and possibly the best known of this group, Taylors.

Visitors at each winery are welcome to taste their choice of variety of wine in the cellar door sales, usually around, but not limited to, five varieties. There is a cost for the tastings but this is usually waived if visitors purchase a certain amount of bottled wine. The amount varies between wineries, but usually purchasing one to two bottles of wine will easily cover the cost of the tastings.

A number of wineries also offer light meals and refreshments for purchase but be aware that some of these are only available on certain days and times.

The wine tastings are a very relaxed session with informative and knowledgeable staff giving details about the wine, its texture, its history, vintage, exports and any prizes it may have won. Ultimately, you decide on whether it was enjoyable to you. I found the majority of varieties that I tasted to be of a very good quality and very easy on the palate. I tried just the red varieties on this trip, as that is my preferred choice.

The Clare Valley Region is very picturesque and while Clare is the largest town, there are numerous smaller towns where visitors and stop and relax at a bakery or hotel and most of the towns are very close to each other. As well as many vineyards, the region has ideal conditions for growing Canola and during spring many fields are covered with the yellow Canola plants stretching for miles.

On our holiday we also visited the historic town of Burra, a pleasant 30 minute  drive from  Clare. We did the Burra Heritage Passport and with a key we were able to unlock various historic parts of the town. We picked up (and returned) the key at the Tourist Information Centre. (There is a refundable $50 deposit for the key-upon its return). It is a good idea to travel by car to the various locations. Cost is $30 per adult, $25 for seniors, children 15 years and under are free. It is an innovative idea to ‘unlock’ the history of the town, at your leisure.

A couple of other highlights included dinner at the UPPside European Restaurant & Wine Bar in the small town of Penwortham. The cuisine is from a number of European countries and is updated regularly to include other European countries. Needless, to say the food was delicious and prices were very affordable. Another pleasant experience was The Little Red Grape Bakery & Café, an award winning establishment in the town of Sevenhill. They offer a wide variety of pies, pasties, sausage rolls and numerous bakery items, all are flavoursome and delicious.

A visit to the Clare Valley Wine region is highly recommended as the area offers a number of attractions and eateries for people to enjoy, as well as the main attraction of the many and varied wineries. You don’t have to be a connoisseur of wine to enjoy the charms of the region. Its close proximity to Adelaide (140km) gives it the best of both worlds, being a popular tourist region but retaining its rural charm.

We were only there for a short amount of time but had a wonderful experience, and we will return to see other attractions and visit some of the other and numerous wineries in the region in the not too distant future.