The Barossa is just over an hour’s drive from the centre of Adelaide, but because we were approaching it from the far south our GPS directed us to skirt the city and pass through the Adelaide Hills which turned out to be the most direct route. 

Many say the Barossa is Australia’s most famous wine region. Certainly it is one of the more-established ones, and its unique blend with food production has a lot to do with the original settlers, people from the area of Silesia in Germany who fled persecution in the 1840s. With them they brought high principles, a strong work ethic, and notebooks filled with traditional European recipes. In their heads and memories they carried the know-how to produce not only fine wine, but farm cheeses, peasant breads, rustic sausages and fragrant smoked smallgoods.

More than this, they had the foresight to pass these skills on to their family members, so that even today there are butchers and bakers and other artisan food makers dotted around the region who are descended from these folk. For just this reason we were eager to visit this beautiful valley again.

We were booked to stay the next two nights at historic Collingrove Homestead at Angaston.

Collingrove Homestead was built in 1856 as a home for John Howard Angas a descendant of the first family to settle this region. In 1976 this grand homestead was given to the National Trust and it still contains many of the original furnishings while the exterior, coach house and stables are much as they were in the 1850s.  Set in English-style gardens the property is open to visitors and has heritage style accommodation. Our room in what was once the old workshop had photographs on the walls which when we looked more closely we could see were of various members of the family at school sporting events. It was thrilling to become part of such history if even for a very short time.

For dinner we headed off to the lovely Appellation restaurant at Peppers the Louise in Marananga, one of the multitude of tiny hamlets in the Barossa. Appellation’s chef, Mark McNamara, is passionate about food, so it follows that he is also passionate about the Barossa. Our meal that night was a special treat – the ‘Best of Barossa’ tasting menu, nine courses of the finest produce of this amazing region, paired with local wines. There was a tasting plate of Waechter’s Eden Valley duck, Barossa corn-fed chicken, SA snapper pan-fried to perfection, roast breast of local pigeon, and much, much more.

Next morning after a country-style breakfast in the kitchen at Collingrove, we started off to explore the region, driving up narrow roads, following signposts, in no hurry to be anywhere at any time.

The day passed quickly as we visited Bethany Winery with its dreamy views, took a stroll down the main street of Tanunda, and found  Maggie Beer’s Farmshop in time for a great coffee overlooking the water. In the afternoon we dropped in at the amazing Barrossa chateau – and yes, that is the right spelling! – marvelling at the ornate rooms which welcomed the Queen on one visit, as well as the wealth of rose bushes in the gardens. Just as surprising was the huge range of liqueurs and grape spirits. Owner Herman Thumm, although aged,  still lives in the chateau, we were told.

By the end of the day when we met up with Janet Lymburn and Kate Parkin, local regional food contacts at the  very trendy cafe, Blond, in Angaston, we realised that we had grossly underestimated the time we needed here. There is just so much to see and do in the Barossa, that you need several days. At least.

After a very good coffee, there was time for just one more thing and that was to cross the street and meet Victoria Glaetzer at the Barossa Valley Cheese Company. Inside the small shop, the scents and fragrances of the cheeses made here were so seductive I could see why people are eager to buy a carry-pack and take off on a cheese and wine trail in the region.

For dinner that night we decided we had eaten too much, too often in recent days and on the recommendation of our hosts headed into Angaston, to Junipers, a cheap and cheerful restaurant, where a bowl of hearty puttanesca pasta was exactly what we needed.

Next morning we hurriedly made sure we saw the last few places we had missed the day before then set our GPS for Clare, the last region we would see on this trip.

The Clare Valley is a 90-minute drive north of Adelaide. Nestled among wooded hills, rolling vineyards and neat pastures, the region is renowned for its historic towns, fertile soils and elegant wines that have a reputation for quality and character. The climate is temperate, with mild winters and warm summers. If you keep going further north you find yourself in the foothills of the Flinders Ranges. Beyond that is the real outback, and the red heart of Australia. 

But we were not going that far on this trip. In fact we stopped sooner than I’d thought we would when I spotted an interesting sign at Tarlee. Four Leaf Milling, it said, and when we stopped we found a building with a neat showroom of packs of various organic milled grains and a warm country welcome. Rosemary Dunn who runs this business with her husband Gavin, was happy to tell us about this close knit family company and to show us the stone milling equipment they use.