Shiraz - a great little traveller

By MIKE DILLON

Imagine the scene: You're heading back to your hotel at 2.30 am from the world's richest night of horse racing, the $US6 million ($14.5 million) Dubai World Cup.

Stretching either side of a moonlit highway is one of the world's most surreal landscapes, from desert to manmade oases.

The driver is Chris Halgren a Queens, New York-born Reuters photographer, based in London and in Dubai to cover the race meeting.

"You know what I feel like now," says Halgren. "A Barossa Valley shiraz."

How the hell does someone from Queens, know about Barossa Valley shiraz, much less know what it looks like in a glass or the beauty of it on the palate.

"Whether I'm in New York or London, that's all I drink," he says. Someone has spread the word well in New York.

If you haven't been to South Australia's Barossa Valley, and I hadn't until last month, nothing quite prepares you for the magnificent landscape. But even that is moderated by the second mouthful of any one of literally hundreds of delicious reds.

You say reds because the Barossa is known for its reds and particularly for its shiraz.

Of the more than one million people a year who taste the Barossa, Salter says 75 per cent are day-trippers.

The valley is geared up to cater for all from the organised coach tours, at around $A50 ($63), to the top of the range, which includes travel on a specially equipped train from Adelaide and then a stretch limo to ferry you from vineyard to vineyard (which starts at about $A250).

But the real way to appreciate the valley is to stay overnight, something Barry Salter, chief executive of the Barossa Wine & Tourism Association, encourages.

"Being only one hour from Adelaide, for so long we've been a day trip. We say come to the Barossa and have a day trip to Adelaide," says Salter.

"With the opening of the Novotel Resort in August 1999, we now have between 400 and 650 rooms available on any given night."

Salter says there has also been a big growth in bed-and-breakfast stays and self-contained cottages. It's easy to see why.

Colleen and John Little's lovely Lindsay House homestay is on a hill overlooking Angaston. If you can eat three-quarters of Colleen's breakfast, you're well set up for a round of vineyards.

The remarkable atmosphere in the Barossa is perhaps best explained by Salter: "We don't put this on for anyone but ourselves and we invite the rest of the world to join us."

The culture is ingrained, as Colleen Little explains: "You go to someone's place for afternoon coffee and a bottle of wine gets opened."

And the music, wine and arts festivals are big drawcards. There's the week-long Barossa Vintage Festival, which is held biennially (the next in April 2003); the Barossa International Music Festival, during which world-renowned soloists, ensembles and orchestras perform in the wineries, churches and cellars every spring; and, if you like it casual, Barossa Under The Stars, which has international singing stars entertaining on the lawns between Peter Lehmann Wines and Richmond Grove Winery each February.

No two Barossa wineries are even remotely similar. If you start from Nuriootpa you have to sample Elderton Wines, with great shiraz and merlot.

"We like to put plenty of body in our shiraz," says Elderton's Samantha Schroeter.

Nearby is Richmond Grove, where the friendliness captures you, then you can wander through the gum trees to Peter Lehmann's next door where, if the open fire and tasting room do not entice you to stay for lunch, you're pretty hard to please.

Grant Burge Wines is at the top end of the friendliness stakes and so are its cabernets and shirazes. A difficult place to leave, but the thought of the Rockford Basket Press shiraz would move Lord Nelson off his monument. Sadly, Rockfords is not open on Sundays or public holidays.

The atmosphere at Penfolds perhaps reflects that it is a corporate giant rather than a family affair, but the same cannot be said of Yalumba, whose stunningly visual entrance sets up a memorable tasting.

Saltrams, St Hallett, The Willows and Wolf Blass add to the feeling of being spoilt for choice.

Eating becomes fairly important on the wine trail. For fine dining you won't do better than Vintner's Bar and Grill just down the road from Angaston and for during the day, Angaston's Seasons Of The Valley is spectacular.