One of my favorite wineries, Molly Dooker, is in the McLaren Vale wine region of Adelaide. It’s a family run business and Sarah and Sparky really incorporate their family life into all that they do. We were lucky enough to not only visit this winery during our trip but we also got to do a private winery tour and tasting. The grapes were in harvest so it was really cool to see the entire production process. We even got to try some of the wine that was in the fermenting process.
We stayed at the Majestic Roof Garden Hotel which was very charming especially the rooftop that had a view of the entire city. It was a great place to have a pre-dinner cocktail to watch the sunset before heading out for dinner.
Our first wine excursion was supposed to be a group tour with Cellar Door Tours to visit several wineries in the Barossa Valley. Unfortunately, the tour guide forgot to pick us up for the tour however they more than made up for it with the owner picking us up and taking us on a private tour to some of his favorite wineries. We visited Murray Street, Peter Lehmann, and Langmeil Winery.
The next day we did a private tour with Premium Wine Tours by Scott to visit McLaren Vale. McLaren Vale is a small rural town in South Australia famous for producing world class red wine. We started the day off with one of the coolest experiences. We got to spend time with an authentic small batch wine maker. He showed us around his winery and it was a very intimate experience.
Next, we visited the world famous D’Arenberg winery for lunch and wow, this property is amazing. Our table had an amazing view of the orchard. It felt like we were transported to another world.
We ended the day at Molly Dooker which we learned is a nickname for a left-handed person.
Bottom Line:
While Australian wine doesn’t get much recognition in the U.S., it is certainly produces some excellent Shiraz and black bubbles. With high import tax and wine makers opting for twist tops over traditional corks, to get the good stuff you have to get it in country. This is a beautiful part of Australia and one of our favorite parts of our trip.
Habitual Tourists 
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