McLaren Vale holiday home a winelover’s delight
This charmingly restored holiday cottage for two is surrounded by vines.
Like Bordeaux and Porto, Adelaide is a member of the Great Wine Capitals global network. The city is ring-fenced by vines, Barossa to the north, Adelaide Hills to the east and McLaren Vale to the south. Boundaries between regions are slightly porous and sometimes disputed, but at the recently opened Coach House you can avoid any potential contretemps. This beautifully renovated 19th-century stone cottage manages to straddle regions, bookended by two vineyards, one in the Adelaide Hills, the other in McLaren Vale.
Located just outside Kangarilla, a hamlet wedged between Hill and Vale, the couple’s retreat and its attendant vines are managed by McLaren Vale winery Hither & Yon, where brother viticulturalists and winemakers Malcolm and Richard Leask make excellent wines using varietals well suited to South Australia’s hot, dry summers.
The house is offered to guests as an elegant and delightfully secluded self-catering bolt-hole, so before checking in we decide to drop by the Willunga Farmers Market on the other side of McLaren Vale to shop for dinner. It’s a wonderful little venue with top-notch local produce, everything from micro-greens to chunky venison pies. Basket in hand, we stock up on duck pate, smoked trout, lavender brownies, rich olive oil made from wild-harvested fruit, and smelly goat’s milk cheddar. Quite the feast.
Next stop, wine, and although McLaren Vale is home to dozens of cellar doors, we decide to visit Hither & Yon HQ, a charming cottage set about with vintage tables and chairs, located conveniently on the Willunga high street. Juliette (Ju) is on hand to guide us through a flight of some of the company’s star varietals: Nero D’Avola, Touriga, Carignan and Aglianico.
Bottles in basket, we are provisioned for a weekend siege so it’s off to the Coach House, back across the Vale, past endless rows of vines, along roads lined with wild olive trees, the ocean over our left shoulder, the ranges to our right. Heading inland through Kangarilla, we arrive at a narrow road above a steep-sided gully, then on to an even tighter switchback, past sheep belly-deep in grass, and through old farm gates to our destination. Dug into a ridge overlooking a valley, the cottage is straight from the pages of an Emily Bronte novel. Far below, the view is more Australian, a large dam cuffed by willows, vines cloaking one side of the valley, large gum trees on the other.
A misty and chilly spring afternoon lends this isolated locale an air of mystery (aided and abetted by patchy Wi-Fi and phone signal). Soon after arriving, the view is swallowed by fog and we make haste to light the log fire, thoughtfully set in readiness for our arrival. Up behind our cosy hideaway we can glimpse the main house, dating from 1859 and scheduled to open as a luxury five-bedroom residence in a year or two.
The 41ha farm was recently purchased by a Japan-based Australian family who are restoring the property using regenerative farming practices, with the Leask brothers managing and expanding the vineyards. The two-storey Coach House has been tastefully decorated by Adelaide designer Kate Harry. A muted palette and commitment to handmade objects gives it an almost Shaker, and certainly Scandinavian, vibe. Within the thick stone walls, a smart, dine-in kitchen opens into an elegant living room complete with log fire, drinks cabinet and French doors providing access to a small, stone terrace. Upstairs is a second living area, master bedroom and bathroom with huge tub and big pots of Aesop unguents. There are giant TVs in the living room and bedroom, but given this quiet, rural environment, reading books and drinking pots of tea seem more apropos. And there’s the perfect spot for that, a window seat in the kitchen with valley views and already set with tea tray and books.
Nothing has been overlooked, from the well-stocked wine cabinet (a bottle a day is included in the room tariff) to generous breakfast provisions (Barossa bacon, local sourdough), quality teas and coffee pod machine. Hues of soft blue and grey and a focus on natural materials – fabric light shades, ceramic cupboard handles, Belgian bed linens – underscore a sense of calm. Outside the kitchen, a timber deck is set with a dining table, the perfect spot to eat on warmer days with vistas past a stand of old poplars.
As dusk gathers, fairy wrens play at the door, their melodious calls rising and falling. The mist clears and the sun finally breaks through clouds to cast a golden glow on gleaming window casements. I’m perched in the nook like a superannuated Cathy waiting for Heathcliff to scale the steep hill. With a bottle of wine of course.
TO-DO LIST
Dine
At the 1851 Salopian Inn, supplied by its own enormous vegetable garden; Coriole, with stunning views over the Vale; Little Wolf Osteria for generous Italian fare in a bustling eatery occupying converted shipping containers.
Explore
A 10-minute drive away is Kuitpo forest, perfect hiking territory; in season expect to find foragers on the hunt for the elusive porcini. Pack a picnic and drive on to the sand at Aldinga for a day at the beach.
Browse
Kookery kitchen shop tucked off the Willunga high street, perfect for cooks and gardeners. Bev’s Remnant House (also in Willunga) for wonderful fabrics and offcuts if you fancy running up a curtain or two. And every Saturday, 8am to noon, the excellent Willunga Farmers Market.
ESSENTIALS
The Coach House is less than an hour’s drive from Adelaide. Breakfast provisions plus one bottle of wine per day are included in tariff; from $500 a night (minimum two-night stay).
Christine McCabe was a guest of The Coach House.