Wines Down Under
12-23-2016
To finish off the year, we travelled to south Australia to visit wine country down under and the National Wine Centre of Australia. The National Wine Centre is located in Adelaide in the South Australia territory and is affiliated with the University of Adelaide and is situated on the stunning grounds of the Boantic Gardens.
You can spend an entire day at the National Wine Centre (NWC). The NWC venue combines eye-catching architecture with smooth functionality that showcases the Australian wine industry. Upon entry, you are greeted with a directory showing the wine tasting area called “Wined Bar”, restaurant, multiple concourses, theaters, meeting rooms, trade and exhibition rooms, wedding venues, wine terrace, cellar and “Wine Discovery Journey”.
The NWC’s 'Wined Bar' boasts Australia's largest tasting room experience with visitors able to sample 120 different wines thanks to the installation of state of-the-art Enomatic wine preservation and dispensing machines. The Wined Bar is part of the Centre's Cellar Door where you can choose, pour and taste every wine. Visitors are given a “credit card” that will track the wines tasted. There are also 3 types of pours that can be accessed from the Enomatic machines: a 3/4 ounce, 2 ounce and 5 ounce pour. The charge per pour varies depending on the bottle of wine. We tried several of the wines and price per pour ranged from $1.20 AUS to $20.00+ AUS. With all the best Cellar Doors in the one place, visitors are able to find the perfect wine to suit their taste and budget. Friendly, educated staff are on hand to help you discover the perfect drop.
The Centre's Cellar Door offers a seasonal menu featuring the finest fresh produce, sourced primarily from South Australia. The Tapas style menu is crafted by the Wined Bar Chef, Judyta Slupnicki, is ideal for the sharing over glass of wine, and is available from midday. We chose to “mix and match to create your own platter”. Included were a choice of three meats and cheeses for $18 AUS. The charcuterie was from Adelaide Hills Artisan Small Goods and the Cheeses were all South Australian Cheese. Our platter was served with house baked bread, quince paste, pate, Adelaide Plains Olives, muscatels and lavish.
You can’t miss the free self-guided, interactive Wine Discovery Journey exhibition. The tour is ideal for wine novices and connoisseurs alike. It was very informative and helped us gain an insight into the issues Australian winemakers contend with. One takeaway was the quality vs price perception. Nearly every wine we tasted were very good to outstanding, however, the price per bottle was approximately 20% less than what a comparable bottle of wine from the US. Australian wines taste great and are a great value too!
The South Australia territory (Adelaide) features some of the best wine growing regions of the country including the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. Other territories that have notable wine regions are Victoria (King Valley, Yarra Valley) and New South Wales (Hunter Valley and Canberra District).
You can spend an entire day at the National Wine Centre (NWC). The NWC venue combines eye-catching architecture with smooth functionality that showcases the Australian wine industry. Upon entry, you are greeted with a directory showing the wine tasting area called “Wined Bar”, restaurant, multiple concourses, theaters, meeting rooms, trade and exhibition rooms, wedding venues, wine terrace, cellar and “Wine Discovery Journey”.
The NWC’s 'Wined Bar' boasts Australia's largest tasting room experience with visitors able to sample 120 different wines thanks to the installation of state of-the-art Enomatic wine preservation and dispensing machines. The Wined Bar is part of the Centre's Cellar Door where you can choose, pour and taste every wine. Visitors are given a “credit card” that will track the wines tasted. There are also 3 types of pours that can be accessed from the Enomatic machines: a 3/4 ounce, 2 ounce and 5 ounce pour. The charge per pour varies depending on the bottle of wine. We tried several of the wines and price per pour ranged from $1.20 AUS to $20.00+ AUS. With all the best Cellar Doors in the one place, visitors are able to find the perfect wine to suit their taste and budget. Friendly, educated staff are on hand to help you discover the perfect drop.
Wined Bar Dining
The Centre's Cellar Door offers a seasonal menu featuring the finest fresh produce, sourced primarily from South Australia. The Tapas style menu is crafted by the Wined Bar Chef, Judyta Slupnicki, is ideal for the sharing over glass of wine, and is available from midday. We chose to “mix and match to create your own platter”. Included were a choice of three meats and cheeses for $18 AUS. The charcuterie was from Adelaide Hills Artisan Small Goods and the Cheeses were all South Australian Cheese. Our platter was served with house baked bread, quince paste, pate, Adelaide Plains Olives, muscatels and lavish.
Wine Discovery Journey
You can’t miss the free self-guided, interactive Wine Discovery Journey exhibition. The tour is ideal for wine novices and connoisseurs alike. It was very informative and helped us gain an insight into the issues Australian winemakers contend with. One takeaway was the quality vs price perception. Nearly every wine we tasted were very good to outstanding, however, the price per bottle was approximately 20% less than what a comparable bottle of wine from the US. Australian wines taste great and are a great value too!
The South Australia territory (Adelaide) features some of the best wine growing regions of the country including the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. Other territories that have notable wine regions are Victoria (King Valley, Yarra Valley) and New South Wales (Hunter Valley and Canberra District).