A Coonawarra Wine & Food Long Lunch
A leisurely day of cellar doors and a long terra rossa lunch
The plan
Coonawarra is made for the long lunch. The vineyards run in a single narrow strip of terra rossa, so cellar doors sit minutes apart and you can taste at several without ever feeling rushed. This day is built around a leisurely midday meal, with tastings either side.
Start at the northern end and work your way south, breaking for a long lunch when the sun is high, then finishing with a final cellar door or two before the light goes golden over the vines.
Morning tastings
Open at Leconfield and Brand's Laira at the northern end, where some of the district's oldest vines grow, then call in at the iconic triple-gabled Wynns cellar, the face of Coonawarra Cabernet.
The long lunch and beyond
Settle in for a long lunch among the vines, then ease into the afternoon with the family welcome at Bowen Estate and the southern-strip hospitality of Di Giorgio Family Wines. It is Coonawarra at its most civilised: great Cabernet, good food and absolutely no hurry.
Day 1
5 stops-
1Coonawarra
Leconfield Coonawarra
A respected family winery at the northern end of the Coonawarra strip, known for structured Cabernet and a warm cellar door.
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2Coonawarra
Brand's Laira Coonawarra
A historic Coonawarra label with some of the district's oldest vines, anchoring the northern terra rossa.
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3Coonawarra
Wynns Coonawarra Estate
Coonawarra's most recognisable winery, its 1896 triple-gabled cellar set among the oldest vines on the terra rossa.
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4Coonawarra
Bowen Estate
A small, fiercely independent Coonawarra estate where the Bowen family has made benchmark reds since 1972.
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5Coonawarra
Di Giorgio Family Wines
A welcoming Italian-Australian family cellar door at the southern end of Coonawarra, with vineyards across the Limestone Coast.
On the map
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Image credits
- Winter vineyard in Coonawarra.JPG by ScottDavis , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons