Cellar Dwellers 2021 will raise a glass despite new Covid restrictions
The wine region has borne the brunt of Covid-19 border closures, but the Coonawarra has stoked the fires and dusted off its vintage bottles for its annual winter festival.
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The fires are stoked and the bottles dusted, the Coonawarra’s annual winter festival has been uncorked.
More than 50 events will be held throughout July as Cellar Dwellers showcases the region’s vintage wines – like an incredibly rare, half-a-century-old tawny port from the Patrick of Coonawara private cellar.
Coonawarra Vignerons events and marketing officer Heidi Eldridge said the events would give people a chance to taste museum and limited release wines not normally served at the cellar door.
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“This year we’re back to the full extensive program which is a combination of dinner events, lunches, high teas, a bonfire evening at Bellwether, we have a collection of wineries are going to go down to Mount Gambier for a wine festival,” Ms Eldridge said.
“There’s blending sessions, there’s making your own curries and spices and having a luncheon.”
Last year Cellar Dwellers was limited to seating tastings with Victorian’s locked out and this week’s tightened restrictions were just another bump on the Riddoch Highway.
Ms Eldridge said it would work with wineries to adapt events in line with density caps and vertical consumption rules but said it would be “devastating” if border closures impacted the event again.
“The reason we could offer Cellar Dwellers in its simplest format last year was based on the fact it was all about the aged wine and the pouring of the wine,” she said.
“As long as people can still come to cellar doors, then essentially Cellar Dwellers is still there and active and ready to go.”
Despite the lack of case in regional SA, Ms Eldridge said the restrictions were disappointing yet essential to protect guest at events designed to entice visitors from Melbourne and Adelaide.
“The reality of our region is that we are right on the border of Victoria,” she said.
“We do have to be cautious, there is that level of risk there, whilst people might think it’s unfair that it applies to us people are moving between the metropolitan areas.
“Unfortunately, that then impacts our attendance and that’s not ideal given that this month is created to generate a bit of extra visitation to the region.”
It’s been a challenging 18 months for the region which straddles the Victorian-South Australia border and Coonawarra Vignerons patron Doug Balnaves said events like Cellar Dwellers were key to increasing visitation during the South East winter.
“If you can speak to anyone in tourism in the South East, I suspect they all find in July is possibly the most difficult month,” Mr Balnaves said.
While he said it could be difficult convincing Adelaideans to make the trek with international borders closed, the Coonawarra was enjoying the domestic tourism boom with a pleasing amount of ‘no vacancy’ signs.
“Across the country the people who might be normally in Bali or Europe or somewhere are all here,” he said.
“I think most of us would agree our figures have been rather astonishing.
“You do have to wonder, how long it will the last but at the moment it’s good.”
But Mr Balnaves said the border closures had taken a toll.
“We do miss the Victorians, it’s hard to say that,” he said.
“We’ll all be very pleased when the borders are completely open but we’ve got to live with it in the meantime.”
Coonawarra Vignerons chief executive Ockert le Roux said Victorian visitors were crucial to the region and border closures were instantaneously felt at the cellar door.
Moving forwarded he hoped to entice tourists from Melbourne to continue past the Great Ocean Road or the Grampians.
“Half of our traffic in Coonawarra comes from Victoria, in particular Western Victoria,” Mr le Roux said.
“There’s a lot of people that just turn around at that point.
“Seventy per cent go back the same route that they came from another 30 per cent go inland and to the northern Grampians and then back.
“I think when you reach a tipping point where there is a critical offering that starts to develop in a certain region then people will start to be motivated to come down here.”
CELLAR DWELLER HIGHLIGHTS
Make Your Own Blend at Wynns
When: Every Thursday to Sunday in July at 10.30am
Tickets: $65
Try your hand at winemaking in the Wynns laboratory.
Using cabernet, shiraz and merlot varieties, create a wine to suit your own personal taste and take home a personalised bottle.
Fresh off the Block, New Wines + Food from our Region’s Stars at Leconfield
When: Saturday, July 10 at 12pm
Tickets: $145 including wine
Join Leconfield and chef Kirby Shearing from Soul Projects for a Cellar Dwellers degustation.
Relax by the fire and enjoy the comfort of the new cellar door with a delicious seven course meal matched with new release wines.
Pizza and Tunes at Raidis Estate
When: Saturday, July 3, 12-5pm
Tickets: $20 to pre-book pizza
Live music, wood fired pizza and Raidis Estate wines – what more could you want.
In a Covid-twist order your pizza in advance to secure a seat but stay for as long as you want.
Pairing in the Dark at Patrick of Coonawarra
When: Saturdays in July, 10am-4pm
Tickets: $25
Engage your senses and test out your tasting skills at Patrick of Coonawarra, guess the vintage, variety and food which match perfectly together.
There is just one little hitch, everything will be tasted blind.
Bellwether Campfire, Roast, Stories & Music
When: Saturday, July 31 at 5-11pm
Tickets: $45
Rug up and settle in by the campfire to enjoy a night of stories, delicious camp oven food and tasty wines under the stars at Bellwether.
Tickets include glass of wine and campfire tunes but it’s BYO guitar.
Back Vintage at The Barn with Rymill Coonawarra
When: Saturday, July 10 at 6.30-10pm
Tickets: $100
Join winemaker Lewis White from Rymill Coonawarra at The Barn Steakhouse for a special night of handcrafted wine, beef that the Cleves family have raised on the outskirts of Mount Gambier as well as locally sourced seafood.
The three-course dinner highlighting the best produce of the region is matched perfectly with a pair of Rymill wines on each course, both from the cellar and brand new releases.
High Tea at The Blok
When: Saturday, July 10 and 17 and Sunday, July 11 and 18 at 10am-3pm
Tickets: $45
One of the Coonawarra’s smallest wineries is bringing out the vintage china for a traditional high tea.
The Blok Coonawarra will serve up a homemade selection of sweet and savoury treats and scones with Ann’s famous cabernet jam, tea and recent releases.
Mount Gambier’s Coonawarra Wine Festival
When: 12-4pm, July 15
Tickets: $20
Seven Coonawarra wineries will make the trek to Mount Gambier for an afternoon of tastings, live music and food at Jen’s Town Hall Hotel.
The pop up event will feature Bellwether, The Blok Coonawarra, Hollick Estates, Patrick of Coonawarra, Penley Estate, Rymill of Coonawarra and Zema Estate.
Hollick Estate’s Long Lazy Lunch
When: Saturday, July 17 at 12-5pm
Tickets: $130 including wines, $100 excluding wine
Enjoy a leisurely 5-course meal showcasing fresh, regional produce paired with a selection of Hollick Estates wines against the backdrop of the winter sky over Coonawarra vineyards.
Musings in The Museum at Zema Estate
When: Thursday, July 8 at 2pm and Friday, July 16 at 6pm
Tickets: $30
Celebrate the Zema family’s 40th vintage in their nostalgic museum area.
Compare current release wines with something rare from the cellar, while enjoying a light grazing platter and learning more about Zema.
Click here for the full Cellar Dwellers program and ticketing information.
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