Wine tasting and McLaren Vale Distillery

[Crispy]

Living close to arguably one of the best wine producing regions in the world, we decided to head out to a few wineries and to check out the Mc Laren Vale Distillery over the weekend.....

The Wineries we stopped at included:- Doc Adams, Dog Ridge, Kay Brothers, Lloyd Brothers and Mollydooker and of course the Mc Laren Vale Distillery

Doc Adams Cellar door has only been open for about 15 months but you would never know it, it seems very well established with a fantastic selection of wines and a great grassed area to have a picnic and let the kids kick a ball around. The staff were very welcoming and we thoroughly enjoyed the wines.

Dog Ridge was next and we arrived at the right time, being the only patrons, were lucky enough to be able to meet the winemaker and discuss the wines as we tasted them. Great friendly service.

Arriving at Kay Brothers Winery next, you get to taste some magnificent wines (The winemaker was crowned this vintage's Bushing King) in a elevated setting with views of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The fortifieds were a highlight here. The staff member who served us detailed the history of the winery and the family and gave a very detailed description of each wine, ageing, oaking, crushing details etc... very informative.

Just down the road is Lloyd Brothers Winery, again with views of the Ranges. The White Shiraz was the Wife's Wine of the Day.

Next Day - Mollydooker Winery - This winery was busy when we visited, with a tour group having just arrived...but the service was outstanding, a young gentleman, explained the wines and the "Mollydooker Shake"....a process of tipping out a little of each freshly opened bottle before re-capping it and then tipping it end on end quite vigorously several times.....we were told that they preserved their wine with Nitrogen, not Sulphur, as other wineries do. The Nitrogen needs to be agitated to turn it back into a gaseous form to allow the wine to "oxidise and open up".
If you are a fan of BIG BOLD Red wines, then this is the place....none are under 15% Abv and all are of amazing quality. The staff are very generous with the tastings as well, even with the $175 a bottle "Velvet Glove" Shiraz.....magnificent....unfortunately wont be on my table any time soon though ...lol

Next was Mc Laren Vale Distillery..."Open for Tastings and tours"

and unfortunately this was where a great weekend of friendly hospitality came to an end......we found our way to the Distillery, at the end of a dusty road, even though the sign at the entrance had been kicked over and we initially drove straight past.....Navman to the rescue...

Upon entering, we found ourselves in a rather small room, with a bar and very little other information other than a few bottles on display. No one home, so I called out "Hello"....still no answer. We peek through and open a door into the Distilling room to see a couple of large copper whiskey stills and a 30ish year old chap, leaning on a bench, busy 'Facebooking' or whatever on his mobile phone..... "Hi, are you open?" I ask...and he walks over to the door, obviously annoyed that we have disturbed him.
I explain that we had dropped in to have a tasting and to have a look at the distillery but before I could utter another word, the guy states "I've set this up as a tourism business, It's $25 for a tour and it'll take about 45 minutes"....then just stands there staring at us... before telling us that he is the only one here and he is busy. No offer of any tasting......just the 'Take it or leave it attitude'....we chose to leave it....
Wow...welcome to McLaren Vale Distillery.....Seeya....very disappointing to see poor service like this in a world renown tourist region.

The wineries are highly recommended though and hopefully if anyone else visits the Distillery, they have a better experience than we did.

[woodduck]

I'm sorry to hear it was so unpleasant. It doesn't really make others want to go there, a shame really. Word of mouth is one of the biggest keys to successfull business. Unfortunately when you run a business you can't have a "bad" day because it can cost you dearly. I do hope it was a one off event and they can get it together.

Glad you enjoyed the rest of the tour though :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Lowie]

Had the same experience when I went there October last year mate. Don't reckon he would be making much coin from his cellar door!

[db1979]

Not good signs. :handgestures-thumbdown: