In South Australia, delicious food and drink is abundant. Whether it’s the perfect citrus, freshly-shucked oysters, or award-winning wine, you’ll find unexpected flavours around every corner.
To really immerse yourself in this land of plenty, and expand your palette like never before, make sure to try one of these food and wine experiences, where you’ll not only taste incredible flavours, but learn new skills too.
The Riesling Trail
The Clare Valley wine region was established more than 185 years ago, when European settlers in the 1840s and 1850s noted its fertile soil, temperate climate, and strategic location for agriculture and winemaking. Today, it’s a world-class producer of shiraz (from the Barossa Valley), cabernet sauvignon (from the Coonawarra), and riesling from the Clare Valley. A huge range of cellar doors offer behind-the-scenes tours and personalised tastings, but with such a wonderful array of choices it can be difficult to decide where to start your culinary journey.
If you’re a fan of citrus-forward, zesty whites, the Clare Valley Riesling Trail is a top pick. This 35-kilometre trail was formerly a trainline, and is now perfect for cyclists wanting to visit a variety of wineries while getting some fresh air and exercise in.
Stretching between Auburn and Clare (townships with plenty of bike-hire options), the trail offers three different loops, each one returning riders to the starting point without travelling over old ground.
Along the way, you’ll encounter some of the region’s most popular cellar doors, such as Mitchell Wines. This vineyard offers tastings in a picturesque stone apple shed from the 1890s, and you can also purchase a picnic of local produce to enjoy on the beautiful grounds.
Sevenhill Cellars is the oldest winery in the Clare Valley, established in 1851 when Jesuits settled in the area and planted vines to produce sacramental wine. The grounds boast a grand stone winery and cellar door, a church, and sprawling, tranquil gardens. Make your own platter of locally grown produce to enjoy on the lawns, and use the Heritage Trail QR codes to discover the long history of the winery and its regular visitors, including Australia’s only Saint, Mary MacKillop
Sticky Rice
Sticky Rice Cooking School welcomes novice cooks and passionate foodies to its kitchen in Adelaide Hills for hands-on cooking classes celebrating a range of international cuisines.
It’s Adelaide’s only award-winning cooking school, and each class runs for around four hours, including time to relax with fellow classmates and taste your group’s creations.
Classes include Essential Thai, where you learn to make five Thai dishes with Chef Yukiko Anschutz, and Mexican Food Fiesta, where Chef Genevive Harris teaches you to make tacos and Queso fresco cheese.
There are plenty of classes for those with dietary restrictions too, including an entire course on creating gluten-free Asian dishes.
For those wishing to further immerse themselves in this culinary hotspot, book a ‘Cook and Stay’ package and spend the weekend in an award-winning luxury villa inspired by Balinese, Japanese and Thai architecture, while cooking up a storm with your foodie friends and family during the day.
Haigh’s Chocolate
Since 1915, fine chocolatier Haigh’s has been using premium cocoa beans and specialised chocolate-making techniques to produce some of Australia’s most beloved chocolates, including the famous Haigh’s Chocolate frog.
At the original factory, you can join a guided chocolate experience, learning about the ‘bean-to-bar’ process, while stopping for plenty of chocolate samples.
If you’d rather go at your own pace, head up to the viewing area to watch talented chocolatiers at work, and ask for a sample at the counter.
Make sure to also walk through the Visitor’s Centre, where you can purchase some Haigh’s goodies, including bundles of factory off-cuts to indulge that sweet tooth.
Adelaide Central Market
With more than 70 traders under one roof, the Adelaide Central Market is one of the biggest undercover fresh produce markets in the Southern Hemisphere. The stalls offer a huge range of fresh food, cheeses, and bakery treats, as well as authentic multicultural cuisines. It’s no wonder millions of people visit each year.
Make sure to stop by Lucia’s Fine Foods, which has been selling natural, handmade sauces since 1957. The stall overflows with olive oils, spreads, breads, and delicious meals straight from Lucia’s Pizza & Spaghetti Bar.
Something Wild is run by the Motlop family, known for their contributions to Aussie Rules. Committed to celebrating Indigenous communities, the family specialises in game meats and native greens. Elevate your next barbecue with crocodile sausages, diced kangaroo and venison backstrap, or grab some karkalla and samphire for seasoning. Something Wild can even source uniquely Australian products such as green ants.
Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop
Tucked away in the Barossa Valley, you will find a delightful farm that has been in Maggie Beer’s family for 40 years. Whether you’re enjoying cakes and preserves made by Maggie from orchard fruits, or wines and beers produced by Colin at the vineyard, you’re guaranteed to be taken on a culinary adventure.
There are also plenty of hands-on experiences, including cooking demonstrations using fresh farm produce, guided tastings of wine and Maggie’s Orchard gin, and grazing boards best enjoyed on the edge of the dam.
At the Farm Eatery Cooking School, you can spend an afternoon learning to make fresh pasta, or master the art of preserving and pickling. Wrap up with a meal at The Eatery, run by Maggie’s daughter Elli, where you can choose between a four-or-five course set menu, which changes regularly to reflect the best produce on offer.
With so much to see and do, you might want to stay at the farm’s cosy retreat, Orchard House. Start each day with locally sourced breakfast previsions, and then wander over to the Farm Shop through rows of pear trees to continue the gourmet fun.
Grünthal
Grünthal microbrewery is a culinary playground, home to Grünthal Beers and Cider, Grünthal Gin and Spirits, Udder Delights Cheese, and Hesketh Wine.
At the bar, you can choose between beer, gin and wine flights, or try them all on the Greatest of Grünthal tasting experience. The casual, family-friendly eatery serves up delicious pizza and small share plates to match your drink of preference. Every Friday night, for just $28 a person, you can even enjoy unlimited pizza.
The most unique experience on offer at Grünthal is hosted by Udder Delight’s cheesemaker and brewer, Sheree Sullivan. For over 25 years, Sheree has mastered the art of cheesemaking, and now she uses those skills to teach visitors to make cheese at home.
In a 3.5 hour workshop, you will make your own feta and learn how the same recipe can be used to create camembert and other favourites. Afterwards, settle in for fresh-baked ciabatta and a glass of Hesketh wine or Grünthal beer. At the end of the session, you’ll leave with take-home recipes, cheesemaking equipment, and a Grünthal store voucher.
Lovely Valley Truffles
One hour from Adelaide, in the town of Myponga, Lovely Valley Truffles grows rare black truffles.
Truffle growing was just a hobby for the owners when they hand-planted fifty trees in 2012 , but an abundance of French black truffle fungi have since sprouted around the farm.
On a truffle hunting tour, you will be led across the paddocks by friendly truffle dogs, Gus and Ruby, while their owners teach you about the intricacies of truffle growing and harvesting your own black truffles.
Then it’s back to the farm for a glass of sparkling wine and a light brunch that celebrates the flavours of the black truffles you just harvested on tour. Finally, learn about cleaning and grading truffles, before buying some to take home at a reduced price.
If you’d like to extend your truffle experience, stay in one of three Heysen’s Rest Cabins on the farm’s property, and enjoy a two-night stay in self-contained accomodation, surrounded by ten acres of beautiful, quintessentially South Australian farm and bushland.
To explore seven stunning caves in South Australia, click here.
Rex flies to South Australia. For more information, head to the Rex website or check out the route map below.
