Refreshed Shaw + Smith Tasting Room opens in the Adelaide Hills
The newly reopened and refreshed Shaw + Smith Tasting Room is located in lush Balhannah, and presents the perfect reason to stay at the quaint Adelaide Hills House.
The persimmon tree in the back yard of Adelaide Hills House is bearing its final fruit of the season. On its bare autumnal branches, denuded except for a handful of remnant plump fruit, rosellas hop about chatting to each other gleefully. A long, graceful pheasant joins the feast.
Suddenly there’s movement below the tree. A pair of red-necked wallabies hop lazily into view, startling the birds into flight. The wallabies lope around the tree, grazing and scratching, unconcerned by the carpet of early-morning frost spread out on the grass beneath them.
Over in the next paddock, a hardy flock of sheep wander in and out of the neat lines of grapevines that are flung across the gentle hill like pieces of a patchwork quilt. Mist rises gently, silently; the only sound is the occasional cry of a crow or the gentle twitter of a wagtail.
From the king bed in the main bedroom of Adelaide Hills House, you can comfortably watch the locals – roos, birds, sheep – meandering about their day. There’s no need to get up, really; the view from here is perfection. With a fire crackling in the lounge room next door and a book in hand, this could be the place to hunker down for a whole winter, if you were so lucky.
Autumn in the Adelaide Hills is nothing short of spectacular. Along the villages strung about these hills – tiny towns with romantic names such as Summertown, Crafers Crafters, Stirling, Uraidla, Hahndorf Handorf – rows of elms, oaks and cedars are alight with colour; huge plumes of red, gold and orange stand brilliantly against cool grey skies. Even the ubiquitous grapevines have turned golden; with the grapes harvested, the leaves have settled on trellises seemingly for the purpose of looking pretty.
I am not really here to admire the trees, though. Rather, this stay has been planned around a visit to one of the highlights of the Hills, the newly reopened and refreshed Shaw + Smith Tasting Room. Located in lush Balhannah, the Shaw + Smith winery is one of the shining stars of the Adelaide Hills. Rich in history – cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith Michael Shaw and Martin Hill Smith launched it in 1989, with this Balhannah property purchased and planted in 1999 – it’s a brand built on the back of its phenomenally successful, and highly drinkable, sauvignon blanc (although there are other notable wines in the range including pinot noir and shiraz).
The winery’s recent upgrade includes a new kitchen, a larger dining/tasting space, and, most interestingly, a new wine-friendly tasting menu formed in consultation with Marcell Kustos (ex-Restaurant Bontanic).
The Tasting Room does as venues located in scenic destinations should – it makes the most of its situation. Peering on to a blanket of vines framed by soaring gum trees, it is a majestic spot and there’s a certain thrill in drinking delicious wines grown and made on site. Slow food (or wine)? This is it.
The new dishes are perfectly calibrated for an afternoon of sipping and grazing. Order little bowls of olives, nuts and cheese, or go for something more ambitious, like a delicate plate of smoked yellowtail kingfish with fennel and dill, or a pot of locally-produced duck rillettes with piccalilli and sourdough. There’s charcuterie – coppa, salami, prosciutto – or a more-ish dish of bresaola dotted with fig. Prices range from $7 to $35; highly reasonable.
Well priced, too, are the flights of wine, with a flight of five wines (a sauvignon blanc, riesling, chardonnay, pinot noir and shiraz) $25. A single-vineyard flight that highlights three Lenswood Estate wines is $40. The wines are served in Riedel stemmed glasses, and the room itself, with its hardwood floors, roaring fires and Mount Lofty views, is quietly sophisticated and lovely.
A winery tour of the winery ($120) offers insight into the wine-production business, recommended for those anyone with an interest in viticulture or the paddock-to-plate process. Altogether, it’s a delightful experience, beautifully executed.
Of course, you don’t have to stay at the nearby Adelaide Hills House to make the most of your visit. But there is something quaint about pulling into this two-bedroom 1921 stone house with its lawns of lavender and period-sensitive furnishings, to round out the stay. Opened to guests this month after renovation that has seen the addition of modern touches including a stylish swimming pool, it is the perfect Hills destination. My pals the birds and the wallabies seem to agree.
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Adelaide Hills House Shaw + Smith Tasting Room Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Perfect for: Wine lovers, day-trippers from Adelaide, self-drive, self-cater fans.
Must do: Designate a driver so you can indulge in the tasting flight at Shaw + Smith and a selection from the new tasting menu.
Dining: Adelaide Hills is a veritable cold-climate larder. Call into little roadside produce stalls for bags of apples and cherries or, for something to take home, head to Beerenberg Farm (2106 Mt Barker Rd, Hahndorf) for jams and chutneys. The hottest Hills’ restaurant is The Summertown Aristologist (1097 Greenhill Rd, Summertown). This sweet spot and cellar door offers lovely, low-key, hyper-local food the likes of duck with braised lentils, and rice pudding with stewed granny smith apple. For excellent breakfasts, Stirling Cellars & Patisserie (1/5 Johnston St, Stirling) has great coffee and pastries.
Getting there: Adelaide Hills is a 45-minute drive from Adelaide airport. Hire a car to best see the district.
Bottom line: Adelaide Hills House is $1500 per night (two-night minimum stay).
