Clare Valley Personalized Wine Pilgrimage

Tour Details

Operator

for Wine or Reason

Destination

Clare Valley

Departs From

Adelaide and Clare Valley

Tour Description

In the Clare Valley you'll find a rich tradition of family winemaking that stretches back to the mid 1800s. Handpicking is still common and small yields are carefully nurtured to harvest.

It all began in 1848 when a small band of Jesuits, fleeing religious persecution in Austria, migrated to the free colony of South Australia and established Sevenhill Cellars near the town of the same name. The grapes were originally used to produce sacramental wine, and a quarter of production is still used for this purpose across Australia and export overseas.

The State Heritage-listed Sevenhill complex comprises the St Aloysius Catholic Church, St Aloysius College, Sevenhill Cellars and Sevenhill Cemetery - but the resident Jesuit Brothers don’t take it all too seriously. The cellar door now opens on Sunday and the tasting room, visited by more than 40,000 visitors annually, boasts a motto: “Life is too short to drink bad wine.”

Thirty-six cellar doors are today dotted across the region, most remain family run and operated and are within a 15-minute drive of the regional centre of Clare. Most are also small and produce only bottled wine and many also include not-to-be-missed restaurant experiences: Eldredge, Skillogalee and Mount Horrocks to name just a few.

Many of the region's best wineries can be found along the Riesling Trail, a 25-kilometre walking and cycling route linking the towns of Auburn and Clare. The old railway line winds through some of South Australia's most stunning wine country and natural bushland.

As the home of Australian Riesling, this variety naturally accounts for most white wines produced in the Clare Valley. Principal red varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, with both helping to produce distinctive varietal wines.