Sarah's Culinary Adventure in the Barossa

Palm trees lining Seppeltsfield Road

Hello Hello!  I have just come back from an amazing week in the lovely Barossa!  As you may know, I was lucky enough to win the Barossa's Table competition, run by Tourism Barossa!  (My winning entry is here).  The fabulous prize included:

• Return flights for 2 people from Melbourne to Adelaide
• Car hire for the trip
• Accommodation for 7 nights
• Barossa food and wine experiences for each day in the Barossa, which included winery visits, delicious dinners, gorgeous long lunches and loads more!

Just quietly, I also won the parallel Barossa competition that Nuffnang ran for its bloggers, which was a weekend away to the Barossa.  However, I would have felt a bit greedy taking both prizes, so I said that they could give their weekend-away to the runner up.

We were hosted by the lovely Jaci and Paige from Tourism Barossa, who created a fantastic itinerary, jam-packed with loads of interesting activities.  And when I say "hosted", I really mean hosted!  They drove us around, gave us the inside scoop on Barossa news, introduced us to heaps of interesting locals, came with us for dinners and wine tastings (it's a tough life!), and just made sure we had a fantastic time.  (This was especially appreciated because I was by myself for the first few days - Sandra could only come up for the 2nd half of the trip).  Thanks so much guys!!

Henschke Hill of Grace Vines

Te-Aro vineyard

So that's right, I spent the last week eating and drinking our my through the Barossa.  Phew!  I think I need a second holiday to recover from this one!  Sarah Cooks will have a distinct Barossa flavour over the next month, but to start, I thought I'd share a few photos, and the itinerary with you all.

(Activities listed in italics weren't part of the original itinerary, but were added on during the week when some spare time arose and/or we scored invitations from awesome locals.)

Barossa's Table Itinerary

Day 1

• Food Forest Workshop
• Dinner at 1918 Bar and Grill

Day 2

• Careme Pastry Workshop
• Pizza-making workshop: visits to Barossa Valley Cheese Company, Schultz Butchers and Gully Gardens to gather ingredients, Pizza-making at 40's Cafe
• Yalumba Winery Tour and Tasting
• Dinner at Vintners Bar and Grill

Day 3

• Coffee with Maggie Beer at Maggie Beer Farm Shop
• Workshop with Chris Wotton, Product Development Chef for Maggie Beer Products
• Time in the kitchen with Saskia Beer at The Farm function centre
• Tour of Seppeltsfield 
• Lunch at Maggie Beer Farm Shop
• Tscharke Winery Tour and Tasting
• Dinner at Lyndoch Hill Restaurant

Day 4

• Charles Melton Wines Tour and Tasting
• Sensory experience and lunch at Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre
• Te-Aro Estate Tour and Tasting
• Dinner at D'Artagnan restaurant in Adelaide
• The Garden of Unearthly Delights (Adelaide Fringe Festival)

Day 5

• Visit to Hutton Vale Farm
• Lunch at Radford Wines with Gill Radford
• Henschke Winery VIP Tasting and Tour of the Hill of Grace Vineyard
• Dinner at Wanera Wine Bar and Restaurant

Day 6

• Visit to Apex Bakery
• Teusner Wines tour and tasting
• Apex Bakery Long Lunch
• Dinner at Appellation

Day 7

• Barossa Farmers Market
• Sausage making workshop at Moorooroo Park Retreat
• Long lunch at Moorooroo Park Retreat
• Dinner with Damien and Eva Tscharke from Tscharke Wines

Day 8

• Private Wine Tasting at Peter Lehmann Wines 
• Weighbridge Platter Lunch

So as you can see, it was a super busy week, and I'll have heaps of blog posts to come!