Australia's wine country--Adelaide

Home for over 10K years to the Aborigines, this region of Australia has the distinction of having the country's only "convict-free" history.  While northern Australia was established as a penal colony in 1788, the South was decreed to be a safe haven free of religious and civil persecution.

The city of Adelaide was named for Queen Adelaide, the German-born wife of King William IV.  The area was initially settled with emigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland.

These early settlers were followed by waves of German farmers who happily settled in the Adelaide Hills and the beautiful Barossa valley, where the soil and abundant sunshine were ideal for growing grapes.

Today, this area is renowned as Australia's most important winemaking region.  The vineyards fill the fields of the valley for miles in all directions.

So guess what we did while in Adelaide?

David from Top Notch Tours met us as we left our cruise ship and took us for our day-long private tour to some wonderful boutique wineries that he recommended in the Barossa Valley.

Our first stop on our wine tasting tour was at the Rockford Winery. The stone buildings are about 140 years old.

This year's grapes were in the process of being harvested. When I saw this vat full of grapes I thought Gwen and I would have to stomp them like Lucy and Ethel did in an I Love Lucy episode.

But we didn't....these vats are under a press to squeeze out all the juice.

And we had a great time sampling some wonderful wines.

These 2 ladies cheerfully served us samples at the next winery, Langmeil.

Throughout the day David educated us about the grapes being used for the wines that we tasted, the specific areas of the land, and the temperatures they were grown in.

These are the oldest vines in the country...from 1843 and still growing grapes for shiraz wine.

At the very small family-owned winery, The Willows, this lady took time out from handpicking grapes to give us a few samples of her winery's varieties.

One more winery to visit...good thing David is driving and not us!

At the Ballycroft Winery the owner showed us the process of making his wines.

His hands were stained purple from his day's work.

Some of the barrels used to store the wine...each one costs about $1200AUD.

Here's our guide, David, owner of Top Notch Tours. He is very knowledgeable and gave us a great tour of Australia's wine country.

At the end of the day it was time to watch the lights of Adelaide fade as we sailed away. Next we had 2 days at sea before arriving at our next port, Albany.

To continue reading, scroll down and click on "Newer Post"