Weekend Away // Adelaide, McLaren Vale & The Adelaide Hills

On the last weekend of June we left Melbourne and headed West for a long weekend in Adelaide and the surrounding wine country.

We stayed at The Hilton - lucky us got upgraded and had this great view.

The Hilton is right next door to the Adelaide Market.  Amazing local produce. Cheese heaven! 

The Market opens late on Friday nights, usually with live music and free tastings.

Note* Not open Sundays.... so I wasn't able to stock up when we checked out Sunday morning! 

Built on a grid formation, Adelaide is easy to wander. Check out Ebenezer Place for boutique & quirky shops. Grab a great coffee at either CoffeeBranch or Peel Street.

Our first night we ate at the The Brasserie at The Hilton and must have been starving because we ordered so much! But managed to eat it all...

After dark is fun, choices include British-esq pubs to watch the footy or small wine bars, all serving local and superb wine. We checked out Clever Little Tailor for the obligatory G&T! The Union  and The Collins at The Hilton.

We also choose Peel Street as the venue to for our Saturday night meal - beautifully generous sharing dishes. Fantastic service. We sat at the bar and watched the kitchen prepare our meal.

Grainy Iphone pics which don't do the food justice.

The weekend arrived and it was time to head to the Wine Region; McLaren Vale only 4o mins outside of Adelaide. (No grapes on the vines, they're all sleeping this time of year!)

We ventured first to Willunga Creek,  run by David Cheesely a fellow ex-pat from Devon, UK. Would definitely recommend his Cabernet Sauvignon '06 and his Wild Duck Creek Shiraz '13 (Willunga is Aboriginal for Duck) both drinking beautifully. 

Dave is a classic car fan, so we could't help stop and admire his collection.

We popped into Hugh Hamilton but it was a little bit too commercial for us. Battle of Bosworth was right up our street though. Set in the most picturesque valley, we were welcomed by 3 dogs and talked through the wines by the owners. These organically grown wines, are something a little different. We picked the 2014 Puritan Shiraz with no added preservatives ie no hangover!

Time for lunch and as it was out of peak-season we were lucky enough to get a table at Coriole Vineyards. There isn't a menu, just a sharing plate for the amount of people on your table. All the ingredients used were either picked from the Winery garden or sourced locally form McLaren Vale. It was delicious!

d'Arenburg was the last stop - by this time our palates were shot but we attempted a few tastes of their cellar only Shiraz

Next day we headed off to the Adelaide Hills, only 20mins from the CBD. We had a wander around both Stirling and Hahndorf, a German village.

We were on a flight back to Melbourne that evening but we couldn't miss Angove. 
Breathtaking views of rolling hills. The staff were attentive and knowledgeable. We could have bought a case but settled on choosing our two favourites (Black 14 Basket Press Shiraz '12 & Chardonnay '12) which we added to our hand luggage! The food coming out of the kitchen looked fab and if we're ever in the Hills again we'll definitely book. 

We had the most relaxing few days and the wine fridge is well and truly stocked!