The Clare Valley is one of the most famous wine regions in Australia, just near Adelaide. We made sure we could stop there on the way back from our Eyre Peninsula road trip.
On a weekend trip, the Clare Valley can be combined with the Barossa Valley, another reputed wine region near Adelaide.
We started the day by driving for a few hours on a track looking out for wildlife and crossing no car as we left Lake Gairdner and the Gawler Ranges National Park behind. We reached the vibrant and lively wineries of the Clare Valley for lunch. What a big difference in scenery and atmosphere!
Our environment radically changed every day during this trip. I found it great to explore different areas like that: it gave us the impression that the trip lasted longer!
We had time to visit two wineries in the Clare Valley: the Sevenhills Cellars and Skillogalee Winery.
Sevenhills Cellar
Established in 1851, Sevenhills Cellar is the oldest winery in the Clare Valley. We picked it as it offers a great experience for wine tasting but also for the visit of the estate. The domain is beautiful with the vines and the old buildings from the Jesuits. We could not join a guided tour, but they provided information for a self-guided tour.
We were able to taste as many wines as we wanted from their list, for free. The quality matched the excellent international reputation of the Clare Valley. Surprisingly, one of my favourites was the altar wine. Indeed, Sevenhill Cellars is the only winery in Australia specialising in altar wine, and the only one recommended by the Catholic Church to be used in Mass. I didn’t even know such an industry existed!
Skillogalee Winery
Following our Adelaide AirBNB host’s recommendation, we did our second wine tasting at Skillogalee. It’s a small family-owned and operated winery. They produce Gewürztraminer, which is rare in Australia. Gewürztraminer is one of our team’s favourite wines: we could not miss this opportunity!
Where is the Clare Valley?
The Clare Valley is in South Australia. It takes 2 hours to drive to the Clare Valley from Adelaide.
