Barossa or McLaren Vale as winery areas to explore??? Decided on the latter….it produces softer, more approachable wines with great fruit intensity and spicy complexity. Set along the Fleurieu coastline, Mc Laren Vale offers lush rolling vines and hill top views over the valley and to the sea.

And we’d booked into another dog-friendly accommodation site, ‘Friends’, this time a B&B. The owner was very welcoming and made sure we were stocked up on brekkie provisions. We discovered we had a whole half a house to ourselves.

We stopped off at the information centre and armed ourselves with winery maps….from which my fellow sweet wine aficionados devised a small group tour…including the “D’Arenberg Cube experience” for myself.

I was the designated driver for most of the time (oh, the magnanimity of it all!). But I did have a modest tipple where there was a decent dry red or bubbles to sample.

Maxwell wines for its honey mead was our first stop. Mead is thought to be the oldest fermented drink, originating in China in 7000BC, when the ancient Greeks discovered it. But better known as the drink of Vikings. Hard working bees visited about 1 million flowers to produce each bottle and flew 44,000 km…. and probably was the healthiest form of alcohol we imbibed on tour. We ordered a “flight” to sample….honey mead, spiced mead and liqueur mead. Ugh, too sweet for me, but lapped up by my companions.

Discovered Australian Boutique Premium Wines run by a husband and wife team – apart from introducing us to their favourite selection of brews (Stef and Lynne particularly enjoyed Harrison’s Sparkling Moscato and Frontignac, Sparkling Shiraz and Delight Cream Liqueur) – they also mentioned a boxing/postage service if we ran out of room in our car to transport wines purchased. Unsurprisingly, we had to make use of this :)!

Battle of Bosworth next, with organic vineyards. The owners, Joch (viticulturist) and Louise (marketing guru) met while working for Joch’s father and took over the reins on the estate in 1995. Lynne was particularly taken with the ‘Spring Seed Sweet Pea Moscato’.

I returned to one of my favourite wineries, Coriole, where I had first learnt about the practice of planting roses at the end of a vine to check the alkalinity/acidity of the soil. I purchased some verjuice, reputed to be even better than Maggie Beers’, and Stef/Lynne enjoyed the port.

Set amongst a tranquil lake, and 200 year old gum trees is the 300 acre Serafino. There’s a restaurant, 4 star accommodation, solar heated swimming pool and conference/function facilities.

Steve (Serafino) Maglieri arrived from Italy in 1964 as a passionate teenager full of dreams. He now owns this estate with his daughter. As we enjoyed a few drops, there was a sound of a chopper coming in to land….a couple just wed, enjoying a helicopter tour around McLaren Vale, descended to slake their thirst with some cold champagne.

Onto Foggo Wines, the “home of the fortified”! Stef and Lynne immediately zeroed in on ‘Figjam Topaque’, a cheeky new addition to the fortified collection – rich smooth caramel and buttered popcorn. Also ‘Golden Muscat’, layer upon layer of plump brandied raisins, candied citrus, brown sugar and spice. Christmas cake in a bottle! I enjoyed the sunshine and watching passers-by 🙂

Hugh Hamilton wines were next on our list. “Our rascals, ratbags, drama queens and many other characters are all bottled up in some of Australia’s finest wines”, is the marketing claim. ‘Goldilocks Moscato’ and the ‘Ruffian Liqueur Muscat’ were purchased to take home. Mitzy and I had a lovely walk down the pencil-pine driveway and introduced ourselves to the sheep in the vineyard close to the carpark 🙂

The idea to build the d’Arenberg Cube came to Chester Osborn in 2003, inspired by the complexities and puzzles of winemaking. Each of the 5 levels have been designed to entice and excite the senses – a wine sensory room; a virtual fermenter; a 360 degree video room; Alternate Realities Room; Eat@Polly’s for a delish lunch and to appreciate the amazing wood/glass decorative wall divider.

Stef and Lynne did a tasting; while I took myself off to experience quirky art – a surrealist exhibition of 25 of Dali’s bronze sculptures and graphic artworks; a visit to the colourful loo that’s totes OTT!

Between us over the 2 day sojourn, we managed to collect 3 boxes of different wines, one sent by post and two transported back by car. Very modest of us.

Onwards to Victor Harbour and Port Elliott…..