To my mind, winter is the best time to visit the Barossa. The brisk mornings and cooler days make perfect weather for tasting the region’s wines – full bodied Barossa shiraz can be hard going when the temperatures are above the old 100 mark as they often are in the height of summer. Sure, the nights can be a little chilly (OK, cold), but what nicer way to spend a romantic evening by the fire with the one you love, a bottle or two and some local cheese -or no cheese as the case may be.  It is a little like après ski without the bother of lift lines, out-of-control snowboarders and a ruggedly handsome ski instructor called Hans trying to chat up your girlfriend.

To me, the valley seems more convivial this time of year, and I am sure that it isn’t just because we need to drink more to keep warm. With fewer visitors in town, there is much more time to spend with each guest. People staying for a few days really get a feel for the place and its people. Stay a little longer and it is not unusual to be adopted by a local and invited back to their place for drinks and dinner.  A word of warning though:  Barossans are gregarious and generous by nature and many people who come as visitors fall in love with the place and decide to stay – just ask Dave’s PA Fiona and her husband Col, former Melburnians that succumbed to the charm of the valley a few years ago.

I find the only trouble with winter here  is that with all the braised pork belly, pot roasted quinces, old fortifieds and lashings of Greenock Dark Ale that the season brings, generally means that I put on a little “Barossa muscle” around the waistline.  I try to pass it off as my winter coat, but I am not fooling anyone.

Scott Trezise – Cellar Door Manager

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